Junior Year: Reach for the Stars
by TheStarsInHerEyes
Summary: It's Will & Co's junior year at Sky High.  When old adverseries return, it's going to tke more than the same old tricks to defeat them.  Are they up to the task, or will they crack under pressure? Includes W/L, WN/FG, Z/M.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story was written the sequel to my previous story, however, it is not neccessary to read the first one to understand this. I believe that the only essential fact you would need to know is that I have named Freeze Girl Abby.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High in any part. **

They exploded into the Stronghold kitchen with no warning, bursting through the front door and swarming inside. They suddenly filled the room, their voices bouncing off the walls, they seemed to be everywhere. They were looking for something. One threatened murder if it wasn't found soon. Will looked around desperately for something that would appease them.

"Here it is!" Will shouted, pulling a handful of sodas out of the back of the refrigerator and tossing them out to his friends, who were lounging about the kitchen.

"Finally!" Zach said, grabbing his and downing it in practically one gulp.

"Ah." Layla said, taking a sip. "This feels so good. I was practically melting out there."

"Ethan was literally melting." Magenta said with a laugh, and Ethan grinned sheepishly.

"Really?" Abby asked. "I thought the temperature was just fine."

"Yeah." Warren agreed. "It seemed normal to me."

They all turned to glare at the two among them who could control temperature. They grinned back.

Will popped open his own can, sliding on to a chair next to Layla and switching on the T.V., flipping through the channels hoping to find something good. He stared. The picture wasn't changing. He looked down at the remote, tapping it against the table, wondering if it was broken. Whoops. He tapped a little too hard. Carefully setting the now dented remote back on the table, he took another look at the T.V. There were red bars running across the top and bottom, with a few news anchors in the middle, who were talking very quickly, obviously excited. The words 'EMERGENCEY BROADCAST' were printed in large letters in the background. Maybe he should pay attention to this. Will frowned, trying to catch the gist of the story.

". . . reported to be highly dangerous . . . whereabouts unknown . . . missing for ten hours and counting . . ."

The others loosely gathered around Will, their attention also caught by the screen.

"So far, the only thing that has been confirmed is that that yes, the notorious super-villain has escaped from his maximum security prison. Barren Battle is loose."

All eyes turned silently towards Warren. He just stared at the TV, no emotion on his face. The reporters continued talking, but no one was listening anymore.

" . . . Warren?" Abby asked tentatively. He didn't move.

Without any warning, his arms suddenly burst into flames. "Warren!" Layla shrieked. Zach dived for the opposite end of the kitchen as Abby quickly put out the flames. Warren looked down at his hands, as if just now realizing what had happened, but his face didn't change expression.

"Warren?" Will asked, slowly walking up to him. ". . . you okay man?" Warren just stared, then turned around and walked out the door.

* * *

><p>After the news, and Warren's dramatic departure, everyone else mumbled excuses and stumbled out the door, dispersing in different directions, leaving Will, sitting somewhat stunned, in the middle of the kitchen.<p>

Barren Battle . . . he had caused enough trouble for him in the form of Warren when he was still in prison. What would happen now that he was out?

Several hours later, Will was sticking his head in the refrigerator, searching for some pizza. He felt that he deserved at least one whole one to himself, after the day he'd been through.

"William Stronghold!" His mother's unmistakable shrill pierced through the house as the door swung open. The next second, Will was pulled away from the refrigerator and engulfed by a pair of arms. Will grunted. His mother may not have super strength, but she still had a tight grip.

"Why on earth." She trilled in his ear, "Were you not answering your phone?"

"Uh," Will stammered, prying his mother away from him. "I don't –"

"We were so worried!" She exclaimed. "I've been trying to get in touch with you for hours! Haven't you heard the news?"

"Uh, that Barren Battle escaped?" Will guessed.

"Precisely." His father boomed, hands on hips. "That good for nothing bastard is trying to cheat on his sentence."

"Yeah, that." Will said.

"Exactly, Will, you know what this means." His mother said, barreling along before Will could take a guess, which was probably a good thing as he didn't, in fact, know. "You have to be extra careful. I don't want you going out without telling us anymore. Who knows what could happen, with that dangerous villain on the loose."

Will sighed. "Yeah, sure mom." Dangerous villains were always going on the loose, and every one of them seemed to have a grudge against his parents. Especially since the Royal Pain incident, he'd been getting the same speech over and over again, now with especial emphasis on the fact that 'anyone could be a villain' and that no one was ever allowed in the secret sanctum. Ever.

Sure enough, right on cue, his mother started. "So now especially you have to be extra careful whenever you go out, even when you're just going to school, no talking to strangers, and make sure . . . "

* * *

><p>"Hey Will." Layla said, knocking on the doorframe a few times before coming in. It had been a few days since they had found out about Warren's dad. That had put a bit of a damper on all of their conversations since.<p>

"Hi Layla." Will said, looking up from the table, where he was attempting to program a new remote. "Whatcha doing?"

"Mm, nothing much." Layla answered, walking over and taking a seat across from him. "Have you talked to Warren?" she asked.

Will shook his head, his expression grave. "No. Not since . . . you know. You?"

Layla shook her head as well. "No. I can't seem to get a hold of him. I think he's doing it on purpose." Layla sighed. "I hope he's okay." Will nodded.

"What about Abby?" Will asked. "He's talked to her, hasn't he?"

Layla shrugged, looking off to the side. "She's going to go find him today. Right now, actually. See how he's doing." They sat there, in silence, next to each other.

"It kind of sucks." Will said, with a laugh.

"Yeah." Layla said, attempting a grin. "All this almost makes our families seem normal."

"Yeah, almost." Will said, rolling his eyes.

"Where are your parents, anyway?" Layla asked, craning her neck to peer further into the house.

"Oh, they're off." Will said, waving his hand in the general direction of the door. "They're out a lot now, ever since . . . yeah."

"Oh." Layla said, looking back down at her hands.

"Yeah." Will said, looking back down at the remote. "Since, you know, he was like their arch-rival or something, they're at the head of the team that's . . . tracking him, or whatever."

"That must be tough." Layla said quietly. "That, you know, your parents could . . . kill . . . Warren's dad."

Will nodded slowly. Or the other way around, he added to himself. Truthfully, he hadn't thought of that yet. He'd always thought of his parents as invincible. Sure, he'd seen them screw up before, but it had never been anything too serious, and when it had been, he'd been able to handle it. But, this time things were different. No wonder Warren didn't want to talk to him. What would happen if their parents came face to face in a battle? One of them would have to loose . . . would he and Warren go back to being thte way they were when they first met?

"What is Barren's dad's power?" He asked suddenly, realizing that he didn't know too much about Warren's dad, other than his reputation. What exactly were his parents up against?

"Honestly Will," Layla said, almost smiling. "Don't you ever pay attention in History of Supers?"

"Does he have fire powers too?" Will asked, choosing to ignore her last question.

"No." Layla said, shaking her head. "Their powers are related though. Warren's dad controls electricity. Anything that depends on electric power, he can control it, do anything he wants with it. That includes lightening. He can summon lightening bolts. So really, it's no surprise that Warren can control fire."

"Whoah." Will said softly. That was the man with a vendetta against his family.

"And not only that," Layla continued. Will felt his stomach drop. There was more? "Barren Battle is like a generator. He can generate his own electricity, hence the lightening. But that's not the only thing he can regenerate. He can essentially regenerate his life force. I heard he's already died once, it was before he regenerated that they managed to imprison him. And I'm guessing that's Warren his super durability comes from."

"So he really did get a lot of his powers from his dad." Will mused. "What about his mom? She was a super too, right? Did he get any of his powers from her?"

"Well, she was a super hero, yes. She used to be a telekinetic. So, none of her powers really got passed down to Warren."

"Wait – used to be? What do you mean?"

"Warren's mom gave up her powers to defeat Battle. She realized he was getting out of control, and allied with the Strongholds to stop him. But he was so powerful, they needed an edge. She offered her powers, she thought Battle was her responsibility, I guess because she hadn't been able to stop him earlier. There's a lot of energy from sacrificing someone's powers – non electrical energy, so Battle couldn't control it."

"I never knew that . . ." Will said, slowly turning over this story in his head. "That was definitely not in our History textbook though." He said, turning to look at Layla. "How do you know all that?"

"Warren told me." She said simply, shrugging. "Here." She said, taking the remote from Will. "You need to put the batteries in first."

* * *

><p>All Warren could hear was the music blasting, filling his ears to overflowing. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes shut tight, focusing as hard as he could on the music. Only the music. Maybe if he only listened to the music – did nothing else but listen to the music – everything else would go away. Maybe. If he was lucky. But when had luck ever favored him? Oh no. He was thinking again. No Warren, the music, just listen to the music. He squinched his eyes shut tighter, trying against all odds to not even see the blackness of the backs of his eyelids, letting the blaring of the radio overwhelm him.<p>

A sharp noise cut through Warren's homemade therapy. His eyes snapped open as he jerked upright, whirling his head around to locate the offender. Someone was tapping at the car window. It was Abby. Warren closed his eyes briefly again, but then reached over and unlocked the door. She opened the door and settled herself into the passenger's seat, but Warren's attention was back on the radio, fiddling with the knobs, turning it back down to a reasonable volume.

"Hey Warren." She said softly.

"Hey." He replied, glancing over at her. But he quickly looked away again. If he looked at her too much, he'd start thinking again. Thinking about how she deserved better that someone whose father was a villain.

"We haven't talked in a while." She said, slowly filling the gap that had come in the absence of music. "In almost a week." She continued. She was looking right at him, Warren knew it, but he couldn't bear to meet her eyes. "I miss you." That was enough. He looked over at Abby, looked back at her soft blue eyes staring back at him. "We haven't gone that long without talking since, since we started hanging out together." Warren hadn't realized it had been that long, but it explained the ache he felt, now finally seeing her again. "Are you okay?"

Warren leaned back in his seat and stared out the front windshield, just staring, not really seeing anything. Since he wasn't seeing anything anyway, he closed his eyes. 'Are you okay?' The words echoed through his head. No. No, he was far from okay. But where were the words to describe what he was?

He felt something, something light and cool, on his hand, and Warren's eyes flew open. Abby's hand was resting over his. He turned to look at her again. She was looking at their hands.

"I know I can't even imagine how hard this must be for you." She said slowly, carefully. "But I'll be here for you, through it all."

Well, maybe luck did favor him after all. At least in the ways that mattered.

Warren felt himself smiling for the first time in days. He had missed her. God, he had missed her. Why hadn't he gone to her right away?

"It hasn't been so great. But I'm doing better. Now." He said, clutching her hand. She smiled up at him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He shifted position too, putting his arm around her. Just sitting here, with her, in the car, things didn't seem quite so bad anymore.

"Do you want to talk?" She asked. Warren tilted his head to the side. He wasn't even sure. So he just slowly started.

"He's my dad. I mean, I can hardly even remember him, but he's still my dad." Warren said. "But, he's a villain. I don't know, a year or two ago, I thought I'd be just like him. A villain. Everyone did. Well, maybe not my mom . . . but everyone else did. And I believed them. But then, I started hanging out with you guys, and I found out I could be a hero. And, it actually felt pretty good. But now, he's out of prison. People aren't going to see me as a hero anymore. They're going to go back to seeing me as Barren Battle's son."

Abby shook her head slightly against his shoulder. "No." she said. "He's your dad, but you're still two completely different people. And you know your friends won't think of you any differently."

"Well, maybe, but now Will's parents are out there right now, trying to kill my dad. I wouldn't be surprised if he wouldn't even want to talk to me anymore."

"That's between his parents and your dad." Abby said firmly. "That doesn't say anything about you and Will. You guys have known about each others parents from the beginning, and that didn't stop you from being friends before. Nothing's changed. We know that you're not your dad. And since when have you cared what anybody else thought?" she asked, with a soft nudge.

Warren grinned. "Yeah, you're right. But that doesn't mean I like hearing people whispering about my dad behind my back every time I walk down the hallway."

Abby was quiet for a moment. "It's not going to be fun." She said at last. But against all odds, Warren was actually feeling slightly optimistic now.

"I think we'll manage." He replied. He already felt like crap, he didn't want her feeling bad for him too.

Abby nodded, smiling. "We'll be okay."

**Thank you for reading! Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated. **


	2. Chapter 2

The first day of school. Freshman year it had been full of anxiety, sophomore year nervous excitement. But for junior year, it was a bittersweet melancholy. Sure, it was fun going back to Sky High, and seeing all of his friends in one place again. But then there was also the terrifically awkward assembly on the new security measures, all through which he and his friends struggled to avoid the touchy subject that they were all because of Warren's dad. At least things were back to normal with Warren now – as long as they didn't mention his father. But then there was another matter.

It was like déjà vu back to his _first _first day at Sky High. Walking towards the front steps, at first he had thought he was imagining things. Will shook his head, thinking his mind was playing tricks on him. But when he looked back and they were still there, he started to get worried. No, it was impossible, he told himself. He had helped put Lash and Speed behind bars, nearly two years ago. They couldn't be here now. Could they?

"Um, Layla?" he asked the red-head by his side. "Do you see – " There was no need to elaborate.

"No way." Layla said, her face hardening. "What are they doing here?"

"I don't know." Will said, shaking his head. "But I have a feeling this isn't going to go well for us."

"Hey Stronghold!" A voice called out, and suddenly the figures he had spied from the steps were right in front of him.

"Speed. Lash." Will said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Come on, he had defeated Royal Pain! These two school bullies weren't anything. His stomach completely ignored this logic and persisted in twisting itself into knots.

"What are you two doing here?" Layla asked. She obviously didn't have any trouble keeping her voice firm.

"We've come back!" Lash answered.

"Did you miss us?" Speed asked.

No, Will thought, but didn't say out loud.

"Look, guys." He said, holding up his hands. "We don't want any trouble."

"And Stronghold." Speed said, completely ignoring his last statement. "You owe us a rematch in Save the Citizen." He said, jabbing him in the chest.

Will stared down at his finger. Had he really just done that? Didn't he remember how Will had beaten him when he was just a freshman? And he could use his powers a lot better now. Will could pummel him with one hand tied behind his back, and he was starting to look forward to an opportunity to prove it.

"You're on." He heard himself saying. "But, didn't we already have a rematch when we did the real thing? And it ended with you guys behind bars."

"But we aren't there anymore, Stronghold." Lash sneered. "So you'd better watch your back."

* * *

><p>"Have you guys seen them?" Will asked, setting down his lunch tray.<p>

"Seen who?" Zach asked.

"Lash and Speed." Layla answered, taking a seat next to Will.

"And Penny too." Magenta added. "I saw her earlier today."

"This is an unexpected, and not exactly pleasurable, development." Ethan noted.

"Oh yeah!" Zach suddenly exploded. "I saw them too!"

Abby walked up to the table, and, catching the end of their conversation, asked "Lash, Speed, and Penny?"

"You got it." Magenta replied.

"You're in her seat." Warren said to Zach. "Move."

Zach moved over, the stream of speech pouring from his mouth continuing uninterrupted, and Abby calmly took his place.

"I can't believe that they were let back into the school!" He vented, as the others began to tune back in. "I mean, did they not remember what happened the last time they were here?"

"So, wait. Royal Pain isn't back too, is she?" Magenta asked. They all looked around at one another, shrugging.

"I haven't seen her." Said Will.

"Hopefully someone's still in prison." Warren said sarcastically.

"Okay, well, we know they're out." Layla said. "The question is why."

"They are only minors." Ethan pointed out. "Whereas Royal Pain, this being her second lifetime, is not, so therefore it makes sense that they three were released, and not her."

"I can't believed they just released them though!" Will said. "After all the trouble they caused, and all the work we had to do to put them there . . ."

"Well, they have been in prison for over two years." Layla said.

"Which they deserved, because they were trying to turn everyone in the school into villains."

"But still, everyone deserves a second chance." Layla said. "Just, maybe sending them back to the same school wasn't a very bright idea."

"I don't see why they couldn't have just stayed in jail." Magenta said.

"But I mean, they didn't actually hurt anyone, and they were just teenagers."

"Speak for yourself." Abby said. "I was turned into a baby."

"I'm just saying, I don't think they should be put in jail for the rest of their lives for one mistake."

"It was a pretty big mistake." Warren said.

"So, they just let them go back to normal now?" Abby asked.

"Basically." Ethan said, shrugging. "They have to go back to school, since they haven't finished yet, and Sky High is basically the only super school in existence."

"But, they have to be over sixteen now." Layla pointed out. "So, don't they not have to be in school anymore? Why don't they just drop out?"

"Sixteen year olds who haven't finished high school yet because they spent two years in jail. They're old enough to drop out by now, but, apparently they don't want to." Ethan said.

"But, wait, I thought Penny was a senior." Magenta said. "So, how come she's in my classes?"

Ethan shrugged. "Maybe she didn't pass the placement test, so they decided she had to redo her junior year."

"Yes." Abby said, turning to Warren. "You hear that? That means they won't be in any of our classes."

"Awesome." Said Warren.

"Wonderful." Groaned Layla. "That means I have to put up with Penny now too. She was bad enough when I only saw her in the lunch room."

"Well, look on the bright side." Will said. "At lease Gwen isn't back!"

"Yes, just all her little evil minions." Magenta said, rolling her eyes. "Aren't we lucky."

"Yeah, well, those goons better just hope they don't try anything funny." Zach said, puffing out his chest.

"Oh, they wouldn't dare, not with you around." Magenta said sarcastically. Zach, completely missing her tone, flushed with pride.

"Actually, they already challenged us in Save the Citizen, Warren." Will said. Warren just shrugged.

"So? We beat them last year the first time we were paired up together. And we've been creaming everyone since. There's no way they'll beat us."

* * *

><p>"Oh my god." Penny said loudly in the back of Mad Science class. "I cannot believe that they got rid of the hero and sidekick tracks."<p>

Layla bristled visibly listening to this.

"Just ignore her." Magenta advised, sitting next to her. "She's just trying to annoy you."

"Well it's working." Layla hissed. "Do you hear what she's saying!"

"So?" Magenta replied. "Who cares what she thinks? She's a jailbird, what does she know?"

"I mean, it's not like these sidekicks have the powers to succeed in these hero level classes. Or to succeed anywhere else, for that matter." Penny continued.

"Layla," Magenta said warningly, watching Layla's expression darken. "You're a pacifist, remember?"

"Well, yes." Layla said. "But you're not! And that's you she's talking about, doesn't that make you mad! You are just as good as anyone in this class, and –"

"And I know it, and you know it, so who cares if Penny doesn't." Magenta said calmly.

"Oh my god." Zach said, leaning across the aisle. "Have you guys heard Penny?"

"No." Magenta said with heavy sarcasm, rolling her eyes.

"Well, she's saying –"

"We know, Zach." Layla cut him off.

"Oh. So, what are you going to do about?" He asked eagerly.

"Nothing." Magenta replied. "We're juniors now, and we're above such childish actions, as well as too mature to be provoked by such petty statements."

"Ah. Right." Zach said, nodding quickly and turning back to Ethan. "I mean, really," he continued to Ethan. "It doesn't bother me. I don't care what she says. You don't care either, do you?"

"No." Ethan said stoically. "It's not the first time someone has questioned the legitimacy of my placement in hero level courses. Of course, people have been becoming less ignorant recently, but still, I have become accustomed to it and do not let it spark my temper."

"Yeah." Zach said, nodding earnestly. "Exactly."

"I mean, like, take that kid." Penny said, nodding towards Zach. "Highlighter guy. What's his power again? He glows? How lame! That hardly even counts as a power."

Zach flushed a deep pink, turning around and starting to open his mouth, but then he quickly closed it again and turned back around.

"Hey!" Magenta said, whipping around to face Penny. "Will you just shut up? He's ten times a better super than you, and you know why? Because he's not an ex convict. Let's see how far you get after high school with that criminal record following you around. So while he's out saving the world, you're going to be scrounging for a job because no one's going to want someone who missed two years of high school because they were in prison." Magenta finished, turning back around with a huff, crossing her arms.

"Whoah." Will said quietly as Mr. Medulla walked inside.

"Just ignore her?" Layla quipped.

"Alright, she pissed me off too. Happy now?"


	3. Chapter 3

I'm home!" Will called out as he walked back inside, dropping his backpack on a chair.

"Hi honey! We're in here!" His mom called out. Will walked into the other room to find his parents pouring over papers in full on real estate mode.

"How was school?" His mom asked, looking up. "Your first day as a junior! An upperclassman! Oh, my baby boy, you're getting so big!"

"Pretty neat, huh Will?" His dad asked.

"It was pretty good." Will answered.

"Now, I don't want to hear of you pushing any underclassmen around now." His dad said with a warning finger. "Especially since all of them will probably just have one power."

"Oh, Will, I know you wouldn't do anything like that, would you?" His mother asked.

"Of course not Mom." Will automatically replied. But his dad's comment had reminded him of something. "But, well actually, guess who's back this year. Remember from freshman year, those students who helped Royal Pain? They're back in school."

"Hm, now that's a shame." Will's dad tsked.

"But, everyone deserves an equal education." Will's mother pointed out.

"Very true, very true." Will's dad said in agreement, carefully articulating his words.

"But, mom, dad, these guys are _villains_. And they just let them back into the school. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Speaking of villains in school," Will's dad said pointedly. Both his mom and dad turned and looked directly at Will. He took a step back, wondering if their full attention was a good thing. He doubted it. "Did you see Warren at school at all today? Warren Peace?"

"Uh, yeah." Will answered. "He's kind of my friend."

"Yes, well," Will's dad continued. "About that. I think it might be a good idea if you didn't spend as much time with Warren this year."

"What?" Will asked. "Why?" He hadn't expected this, not now. Maybe when he had first had Warren over, but now, after he'd been friends with him for nearly two years? Of course, he knew what had prompted this. "Is this about his father? Because Warren's not like him."

"No, of course not honey, we know that." Will's mom said soothingly. "We're just saying that, well, he is the son of our arch enemy who's on the loose now, and it might not be the best idea to be 'hanging out' with him right now."

"Look, guys, Warren's my friend. You were fine with him last year."

"Yes, well, last year he helped save the school from Royal Pain."

"And nothing's changed since then!" Will burst.

"We're just looking out for your safety, dear." His mom soothed.

"And hey, look on the bright side, without Warren weighing you down, you'll have more time to do other things!"

"Like spending time with Layla." His mom suggested brightly. "And doing your homework!"

"Maybe you could participate in some extracurriculars!" His father said. "You know, when I was at Sky High, I was in the school play. Do you remember that honey? I would have had the lead too, in fact, if it weren't for that Barren Battle."

"But that doesn't – " Will objected.

"Yes, yes, Will, would you mind doing us a favor?"

"But, - you, and - ," Will sighed. There was no use trying to continue the argument if his parents had decided it was closed. Besides, it hadn't seemed like he had been winning anyway. "Fine, sure, what is it?"

"Would you mind going and giving these information packets to this house?" His mom asked, handing him a packet. "Oh, and Will? It's over on Greenwich Way, so you'd better take the car."

Will's eyes lit up, and he dashed for the door, suddenly all too eager to run this errand.

* * *

><p>Will drove down the road in euphoria. Sure, flying was cool, but driving? That was epic. He was so excited, that he accidentally drove by the address and had to turn around and go back. Check the mirrors, careful not to hit the new mailbox, man, he couldn't wait til he had a car of his own.<p>

You could tell that the house had just been moved into, one of the biggest signs being the one with his parents faces on it still planted in the front yard. Will had always found those a little creepy, and quickly skirted round it to the front door.

He rang the doorbell, shifting from foot to foot. He wondered what his parents would say if he took a detour on the way home, would they care? They had offered him the car after all.

The door swung open, and Will was surprised to see a girl about his own age.

"Hello?" she said expectantly.

"Oh, uh, hi." Will said, smiling. Wow. She was kind of pretty. Not as pretty as Layla, Will quickly reminded himself, but still, he couldn't help but notice. She continued to look at him, waiting for something, and Will remembered suddenly that he was supposed to say something. "Oh, uh, I'm Will. Will Stronghold." He said, sticking out his hand.

"I'm Rena." She replied, smiling and shaking his hand.

"Hi Rena." Will said.

"Hi." Rena replied. "So, Will, what brings you here?"

"Oh, right." Will said, flustered, he had actually completely forgotten what he was here for for a moment. "Uh, I'm the, my parents are the realtors, who sold this house, and uh, they had some papers, that needed to be given to you."

He thrust the packet out to her, and she took it, nodding.

"Thank you." She said. "And really, thank you, to your parents for selling us this house. Because it is really amazing. We literally just moved in yesterday, and I already love it."

"Well, that's good. I'm glad you like it so much." Will said, nodding. He was actually a little surprised, this was a pretty boring neighborhood in his opinion. She was the most exciting thing that had happened to it in a long time. "So, you really just moved here?"

"Yeah, I'm still settling in, trying to get used to everything. Like, I have no idea where anything is here."

"Well, uh, maybe I could show you around some time." Will suggested, hardly realizing what he was saying until the words had come out of his mouth.

"Really?" Rena asked, smiling even wider. "Could you? That would be so nice!"

"Sure." Will said, nodding. "No problem."

"Well, I have to go now." Rena said, looking over her shoulder. "But thank you, for everything. And I will definitely be taking you up on that offer."

"Cool." Will said. "So, I'll see you later?"

Rena nodded. "Bye Will!"

"Bye!" Will said, giving a wave. Rena, he thought, loping back to the car. It was a pretty name. Rena.

* * *

><p>Warren slouched down in his chair, staring right through the teacher. He had given up trying to follow the complicated instructions on how to disable a computer virus ages ago, around the 'open up the internet' step. The computer class was the one class that he could not manage to find any motivation for. He stared aimlessly around the room, tuning out the teacher's droning off on his tangent of types of microchips. Warren concentrated on boring a hole into the back of the head of the kid sitting in front of him. The guy had turned around to look at him so many times, that finally Warren had given up pretending to ignore him, instead choosing to stare right back. Right on cue, the guy turned around, and jumped a bit, startled to find Warren still looking at him. Warren grinned slowly, watching as his eyes widened and he quickly faced forward again.<p>

That was the reaction most people gave him now, even when he wasn't creepily staring at them. The two people sitting on either side of him had scooted their chairs so far away that he might as well have had the row to himself. It was like going back to the good old days, before he had gone and decided to be a hero. Back to the days where everyone looked at him and saw Barren Battle's son. Back to everyone thinking like father like son, and wondering who his first victim would be.

Warren tilted his head back, deciding he preferred a view of the flickering florescent lights to that of his classmates. Then, his gaze snapped back to his computer screen, where words had suddenly started filing across. Warren sat up, unfolding his arms and focusing on the screen. What the -? He hadn't done anything all of class, this definitely wasn't something he had caused. Was this some kind of pop quiz? A virus he was supposed to fix? If so, he was screwed. But, looking up, the teacher was still deep into the lecture, and all the other students, if not paying attention, did not appear to be deviously typing sinister commands. He turned slowly back to the text.

'Hello Warren.' It started. Warren's mouth went dry as he continued to read. 'It's been a long time. It's about time we've met up. The fairgrounds. Thursday, five o'clock. Be there, and I'll find you.'

Warren didn't need to look at the signature to know who it was from at this point. He only knew of one person who would have both the abilities and inclination to send him a message of this kind. His dad. Barren Battle.

Warren just stared at the words. The first he had heard from his father in years, more than a decade, and they appeared in black and white, typed on his computer screen in the middle of class.

So his father wanted to meet him. That was something. Years ago, Warren would have jumped at the chance. It had been the moment he had been waiting for, when his father finally came for him. But now, now, he wasn't so sure. He knew his dad couldn't just be suddenly communicating with him out of goodwill. He was sure that his dad could have found a way to talk to him from prison, if he had really wanted to. If he had really wanted to see Warren, that would have been the first thing he did when he broke out of jail. But no, the first thing Barren Battle had done was rob a bank. Typical. He probably just needed Warren for a job. Warren looked back up at the teacher, away from the hypnotizing words.

No, he thought steadily. He wasn't going to go. He didn't want to be a villain anymore. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to meet his father anymore. And if he decided he did, it would be on his own terms. His dad couldn't just expect to come out of jail and have everything be the same, everyone waiting on his beck and call. Things had changed. Warren was going to show him he wasn't some little kid, running off to daddy as soon as he called. Warren continued to look firmly at the teacher, even trying to concentrate on the lesson, anything to keep his eyes and mind away from those few simple sentences.

But, as the lesson wore on, Warren was lost more and more among the worlds of computer code, and found his mind slowly drifting back to the message. He had made his decision, but still, part of him was tempted. He gave in, letting his eyes linger over the message once more. Old dreams died hard . . .

**I'm sorry it took me forever and a day to update this! I rpomise, the next chapter will be up sooner!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey Will, there you are." Layla said, walking up to Will and linking her arm with his. "What's up?" she asked.

"Nothing much." Will answered. "What about you?"

"Actually, apparently there's a community garden over on the other side of the city that's having a little trouble getting started, so I think I'm going to go over this weekend, help it out a little, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

"Oh, that sounds great." Will said. "But, I kind of already have some plans for this weekend."

"Oh, alright." Layla said. "No problem. What'll you be doing?"

"Well, it was kind of last minute, but," Will continued. "I'm going to show this new girl, Rena, around." Layla nodded, and Will looked at her nervously. "It that okay?" he asked.

"What? Of course." Layla said, turning to Will in surprise. "That's nice, showing someone new around."

"Oh. Good." Will said, a little sheepishly. "I dunno, I just thought, maybe, you might not like it."

"You're allowed to talk to girls still you know Will." Layla said playfully. "Unless this is something I should be worried about?"

"No, no!" Will quickly protested.

"I know Will." Layla said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Have fun, okay?"

* * *

><p>The sun was shining, the birds were singing, you couldn't have asked for a better day. And that wasn't the only thing that made today great, Will thought as he strode down the street, past tidy storefronts. Because today, walking next to him, was Rena. He turned to look at her. The sun was shining in her hair, her eyes were bright, she was laughing at something – was it something he had said? Will couldn't remember, he had lost his train of thought.<p>

"And this is town square." Will said as they emerged into the bricked pavilion, brandishing his arms wide, though it wasn't much to look at.

But Rena smiled all the same – she was always smiling, she had a beautiful smile – and walked over to the fountain, dipping a hand in it.

"It's pretty." She commented. Will shrugged, walking over to her. He supposed it was, he'd seen it too often to really see anything in it now. It was bubbling and bright, that was for sure; just like Rena. Will was having fun here with Rena, more fun than he could remember having in a long time. She didn't know about the Stronghold vs. Battle, or at least she didn't connect it with him. She didn't ever pause or look at him strangely, thinking of his dad. To her, his dad was just a realtor. It was refreshing, just like showing someone new through town; everything seemed brighter from a new perspective.

Rena was grinning devilishly now, and a splash of water suddenly hit Will's arm. He sputtered indignantly as she giggled. "You're going to regret that," He said threateningly, though grinning. He dipped his own hands into the fountain.

Rena shrieked, skittering away. "No Will, please don't, I don't want to get my clothes wet, I'm sorry!" She had her hands up, covering her face, and could hardly finish her plea for laughing.

Will grinned, holding his hands up as he walked towards her. "Alright."

"Truce?" She said, holding out a hand.

"Truce." They shook, and continued their walk.

"That's the mayor's office over there." Will said, gesturing. From the outside, and to Rena, it was just another boring old building, but Will had bad memories of it. He looked away quickly. He didn't want to think about those things today, not today when he was just a normal boy, just a normal boy who didn't have to think about that stuff, a normal boy who didn't even know about that stuff, just a normal boy with Rena.

They walked past the office, falling into a lull. There was little for Will to show off here.

"Well, I know all about the town now, thanks to your excellent tour, but what about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes. I want to know about you." She said. "What school do you go to?" Rena asked. "I thought maybe I'd see you there on my first day, but apparently you go somewhere else."

The question caught Will off guard, he hadn't been anticipating this, but he instantly wished she hadn't asked it.

"Yeah." Will said, looking over his shoulder to avoid looking at her. How was he supposed to respond to that? She couldn't know about Sky High!

"I guess you go to a private school," She continued.

"Yeah." Will said, relieved that she had come up with an excuse for him. "You could say that."

"Oh well." She said, looking down at her feet and kicking a pebble. "I was kind of hoping that, maybe we'd go to the same school." She shrugged her shoulders and gave a small smile.

Will just nodded, silently thinking of Sky High. It would be nice to go to the same school . . . but Rena at Sky High? He just couldn't picture it. A normal girl, walking down the hallway where a kid was liable to burst into flames? Then again, that's what he had been his freshman year, a normal kid amongst masses of teenagers with super powers. And he had hated it.

He wondered briefly what it would be like to be a normal kid, going to a normal school. Where super powers and heroes were things you heard about on the news, not things you were actually familiar with.

It might actually be kind of nice, he speculated. It sounded pretty appealing, a life where you didn't have to worry about what would happen if your best friend's dad killed your parents.

"So, what do you do at your school?" Rena asked him, thankfully not pressing on the subject of exactly which school he went to. "Are you into sports, drama, chemistry club? What do you like to do? I want to know."

"Uh . . ." Will stammered. What was he supposed to tell her? That he had an undefeated record in Save the Citizen? What were normal school kid activities? Suddenly, he hit on something his dad had said earlier. "Um, I'm working on a play actually." He said.

"Cool." Rena said, smiling. "What is your school doing?"

"Uh, Oklahoma." Will answered. "I have the lead."

"The lead? Wow. Well then, you must be pretty good. Let's hear you sing."

"Sing?" Will asked. "Uh – not now. Maybe some other time. Hey, you want to get some pretzels?"

Maybe he should have picked something more his speed, like football. Damn it. Now he'd just have to hope she'd forget about his supposed singing talent . . .

* * *

><p>"No, I mean, that's totally great. I'm sure they're all very happy over at the Happyville senior center or whatever." Warren said, suppressing a smile. "But I'm just questioning that they really need eighteen different types of beans."<p>

"Well, I actually wasn't planning on growing eighteen different types." Layla said, blushing. "But, I just started making beans grow, and then I thought, wait, what type of beans, but by then it was already too late, and all these different types had started growing! I couldn't just say, oh sorry, could you go away, I actually wanted another type."

"And you talked to these eighteen different types of beans too?" Warren deadpanned.

"Well – yeah!" Layla said. Warren smirked, looking from side to side, as if checking to see if any of the other patrons of the Paper Lantern found this as crazy as he did. "It's how my power works!" Layla cried defensively. "Like your flame tattoos!"

"Yeah, except talking to beans makes people think you're loco, and my tattoos are cool." Warren explained.

"Yeah, uh huh, ask Abby." Layla said, smirking.

"What? Abby likes my tattoos!"

"That's what you think."

"Yeah, well what did Will say when you were talking to the beans, huh?"

"Well, he wasn't there, but I'm sure he would have accepted it without comment." Layla said primly.

"What, Will missing out a chance to do a philanthropic act, and with the love of his life?" Warren asked incredulously.

"Yeah, he was busy, hanging out with a girl, Natalie maybe? And, oh my god, it was so cute what he did," Layla continued, bringing both hands down on the table and grinning eagerly across at Warren. "He actually asked me if it was okay if he hung out with her, another girl. Isn't that so sweet!"

"Charming." Warren replied to her beaming face.

"I know!" Layla squealed. "I mean, it was obviously okay with me, but it was just so touching that he felt like he should ask me first!" Warren rolled his eyes. "Do you do that with Abby?"

Warren just stared across the table at her. Layla looked right back, smiling.

"Why?" Warren asked. "Do you want me to go call her up now and ask for her permission to talk to you?"

"No, of course not!" Layla said. "Don't be stupid."

"Don't be stupid." Warren repeated. "Got it."

But Layla hardly heard him, utterly engrossed in a new train of thought. "You know what!" She exclaimed. Before Warren had a chance to guess, she barreled right along. "You and Abby and me and Will should totally go on a double date!"

She grinned eagerly across the table at him. Warren just stared back at her. Layla sighed, dropping her grin. "Or not . . ." she muttered.


	5. Chapter 5

Will sat slumped over in Mad Science class, staring hopelessly at the textbook. One of its previous owners had drawn a cartoon of Professor Medulla being electrocuted in the margin, and Will was finding it far more interesting to examine that than the chemical sequences displayed on the board. He had no idea how he was going to survive this year . . .

"And now, on to its practical applications." Professor Medulla said, switching the screen. Will snapped his head up, pretending to be engrossed in the lecture. He managed to keep up the charade for about five seconds. "First off," Medulla continued, and Will's eyelids began to droop. When was lunch again?

"And then we have purgo potestas." Medulla droned. "Which removes a super's powers."

Will jerked his head up. He really had to start paying closer attention, or at least getting more sleep at night. He thought he had just heard Medulla say the last compound removed powers.

"I'm sorry sir," He said, raising his hand. "Could you repeat that?"

Medulla gave a heavy sigh, as if Will had just requested that he kindly go and feed some wild alligators. "Purgo potestas," he said in a monotone. "Removes a super being's super powers."

Will just stared at him, blankly. Had he actually heard correctly the first time?

"Woah." Zach exploded from beside him. "You mean there's actually something that does that? But, like, who would want to use that?"

"That," Professor Medulla said. "Is beside the point."

"Well, for some of us," Penny called out. "it wouldn't make much of a difference." She smiled pointedly at the sidekicks.

Zach turned around and glared at her, then sunk slowly back down into his seat. "I really hate her." He muttered to Will.

"Well, hey man, you had a good point." Will said, trying to console him. "I mean, I was desperate to get powers, like, my whole life. I can't imagine being in the opposite position."

"I know!" Zach exclaimed. "I mean, being a super is awesome! Why would any one want to not be one!"

Will shook his head, equally clueless.

* * *

><p>"So, your phone just started spouting stuff at you to?" Speed asked Penny as they, plus Lash, all ascended upward in the same rickety elevator.<p>

"Yes." She answered crisply. "Do either of you have any idea who did it?"

"No clue. We just got instructions to come here."

"We figured, why not?"

Penny shook her head, lips pursed. "My phone is my life. Nobody screws around with my phone. When I get my hands on whoever hacked it –"

Her threat was cut off by the elevator doors dinging open, revealing a spacious but nearly empty room.

"Dude!" Lash said, turning to Speed, both of their mouths dropped open.

"Barren Battle, sir," Speed said, running forward. "It is such an honor to meet you. You're, like, my idol."

Battle nodded, smiling, and inclined his head. "Well, I must say, you have good taste." He replied, shaking Speed's hand. After he broke it, Speed backed away, staring at his hand in awe.

"I'm never going to wash this again." He whispered to Lash. Lash looked a bit disgusted.

"Let me see," Battle said, tapping his fingers together. "I'm going to assume that you," He said, nodding at Penny. "Are Penny, the multiplier." She nodded.

"I'm Lash!" Lash said eagerly, not bothering to step forward, but merely stretching his arm longer to reach Battle, who in turn nodded and politely shook his hand. "Pleasure." He stated. "And so you must be – "

"Speed!" Speed exclaimed, rushing forward for another handshake. Battle indulged him.

"Well," Battle said, clapping his hands together. "Now that introductions are out of the way,"

"You can get down to why you brought us here." Penny finished, folding her arms.

"Exactly." Battle said. "Now, you all attend Sky High. My son as well attends Sky High. Perhaps you are familiar with him."

They all nodded.

"Good." Battle said. "Then perhaps you could provide me with a bit of information."

"What exactly did you want to know, sir?" Lash asked.

"I want to know about Warren. I see no point in storming such a heavily protected facility merely to see him, when such things may so easily be gathered through alternative methods. So, tell me. How is he?"

They all glanced at each other, then turned nervously back to Battle. "He's gone soft sir." Penny said finally.

"I mean, he was totally badass his first year here." Speed added quickly, seeing Battle's face darkening.

"And for like, half of his second." Lash put in eagerly. "But then . . . he started hanging out with Will Stronghold . . . and,"

"And things went downhill from there." Penny finished, putting her hands on her hips.

"The Strongholds. Of course." Barren muttered to himself, whirling around. "They ruined my career . . . my marriage . . . why not my son too?"

Lash and Speed stood there awkwardly, however Penny saw an opportunity. Why not throw her own revenge in with Battle's? "Will isn't completely responsible though sir." She spoke up. "There's also his friend, Layla Williams. She played a big part."

Battle turned back around, and cocked his head, considering her. "Never heard of her." He stated. "Power?"

"Plant control."

"Hm."

Lash and Speed latched onto Penny's idea. "Yeah," Lash added. "And there's this punk Ethan too he's friends with, real bad influence, I mean good influence, I mean, he's a –"

"Power?" Battle interrupted.

"Uh, well, he uh," Speed muttered to the floor, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. "He melts sir."

Battle raised an eyebrow. "Melts?" he questioned.

"Uh, yeah." Speed answered, shuffling his feet and staring at the floor.

"He's nothing to be concerned with." Battle said, dismissing the idea. "Anyone else I should know of?"

"There's his goody-two shoes girlfriend." Penny said. "Abby."

"Girlfriend?" Battle asked, wrinkling his nose. They all nodded. "Power?"

"Freeze girl."

Now it was Barren's turn to nod. He considered these facts for a few moments. "It seems there is quite a bit I was unaware of of my son." He said finally. "It appears I need some eyes and ears. Will you take the position?"

Speed nodded eagerly, along with Lash and Penny. "Oh yes sir, it would be an honor sir!" He blubbered.

* * *

><p>"But dude, this is <em>Barren. Battle.<em>" Speed said slowly, waving his hands as if he could not emphasize this point enough.

"I know, I know, I get it." Lash replied, slamming his locker door closed. He hardly ever argued with Speed, even when they had been stuck in jail for nearly two year together, but he was having an off day. There hadn't even been some sidekick freshman in his locker when he'd slammed it stuck. Oh wait, there weren't even sidekicks anymore.

"I'm just saying," he continued. "That it just seems like the same old stuff, you know? Us working for some big bad super villain The Commander defeated ages ago. I mean, we get out of jail, and we're stuck back in high school doing the same old thing. I'm just sort of tired of it."

"But dude." Speed said, staring at him with wide eyes. "This time it's for Barren Battle!"

"I know Speed." Lash said, rolling his eyes. "But I mean, come on, he's just getting us to do his grudge work for him. I mean, spying on Warren? I don't want to waste my time stalking some kid I don't even care about. Isn't that what facebook is for?"

"He's a super villain!" Speed nearly shrieked. "This is a huge chance, to be able to work for him!"

"Yeah, yeah." Lash said. "I'm just getting a little tired of it, that's all."

Speed stared at him incredulously. "Tired of it?" he repeated. "You've gone soft!" He accused, stopping in the middle of the hallway and pointing at him accusingly. "You've gone soft!"

"What?" Lash shouted, whirling back around. "I have not!"

"Yeah, you have." Speed said, advancing towards him. "You don't want to do this anymore. Prison scared you, didn't it?"

"Me? Scared? Not likely." Lash scoffed. "After all, I wasn't the one who had nightmares for months after we got busted!"

Speed lurched back, face flushed, quickly looking around. "Hey!" he hissed. "What happened in prison stays in prison, remember?"

"So long as you remember that I went through everything same as you." Lash replied. "I'm no more soft than you are."

"Fine."

"Fine."


	6. Chapter 6

Will walked inside his house after a long day of school, whistling. He had spent all of last night slaving over a paper for history of supers, and now, turns out it was due tomorrow! Who knew? Not him, obviously. Sure, this sucked a little, but now, this meant that while everyone else tortured themselves tonight, he was already finished! Yes! He didn't have to do anything except . . . all his other homework. Will let his head flop forward. Junior year was starting to crush him, one homework assignment at a time.

The phone rang, interrupting Will from his depressing thoughts of school, homework, and, oh yeah, school again.

"Hello?" he said.

"Will Stronghold." A raspy voice choked out from the other end.

". . . Yeah?" Will said slowly. "Who is this?"

"My name." The voice answered, "Is the rabid panther!"

" . . . the rabid panther." Will repeated.

"Yes." The rabid panther continued, sounding as if he were about to choke up a hairball. "And soon the whole world will know my name, when I conquer it! Starting with your very own Marxville! And so I challenge you, Will Stronghold, to a fight for the city!"

"Oh, uh, sorry uh, Mr. rabid panther, but I have school tomorrow, and my parents don't let me fight evil villains on school nights." Will explained. "But, tell you what, I'll forward this to my parents, The Commander and Jetstream, and I'll have them get back to you on that whole 'fight to the death' thing."

"Wait!" The panther shouted. "Before you do anything, there's someone who would like to speak with you."

"W-Will?" Another voice came through on the phone.

"Wha – hello?" Will said, putting his other hand on the phone as well, holding it closer to his ear. "Wait – Rena? Rena, is that y – "

"Please, Will help me!" Rena sobbed.

"Of course, what's going on, what happened to – "

"Hurry Will, I'm scared!" She cried out, before the phone snapped back to the rabid panther's coughing fit.

"What have you done to her?" Will demanded angrily.

"If you ever want to see her again," The rabid panther scratched out. "You'd better come and meet me. Out in the forest behind the firehouse. We'll be waiting."

The phone hung up with a click. Will stared at it for a minute, trying to understand what had just happened. Well, whatever all of that had meant, one thing was clear: Rena was in danger, and he was the only one who could save her. Will didn't hesitate, he dashed for the door.

Will burst out of the front door, springing into the air. Fire station, fire station, what was the quickest way to the fire station!

His flying was jittery, if there had been any obstacles, he would have been liable to run into them. His emotions were wrecking havoc with his coordination. Quite a bit of it was fear for Rena and anger at the rabid panther, but truth be told, some of it was nervousness for this battle. Actually, he had never really answered one of these threat calls on his own before. This was what real, grown up heroes did. He wasn't too sure what he was supposed to do. Wasn't he supposed to have a mask, or a costume or something? Secret identity and all that? Or was he excused because he was still in school?

That stuff doesn't matter! A more sensible part of his brain yelled at him. All that matters is going and rescuing Rena! It's save the citizen, plain and simple! Isn't that what you're good at?

Right, Will thought. It's just save the citizen. Except this time it's more than a cloth doll that'll be hurt if I screw up . . .

Finally, he reached the woods. The trees were too thick for flying, so he abandoned the air and took to more traditional transportation.

"Hello?" He called out, walking cautiously through the trees. It wasn't too late, but in here it may as well have been night there was so little light. "Rena?" He shouted.

"Will?" A voice called back.

"Rena!" Will shouted, rushing towards the sound. He burst into a small clearing, where a man dressed all in black stood. And there, tied to a tree, was Rena. "Rena!" Will shouted again.

"Will Stronghold." The rabid panther stated, walking forward.

"It'll be okay, Rena." Will said, trying to give her a reassuring look and keep a wary eye on the rabid panther at the same time. "Everything's going to be fine."

"I'm afraid you'll find that's a lie." The rabid panther rasped, lunging for Will. Will dodged out of the way – but what was that on that guy's hands? Claws? Knives? Either way, Will knew he wanted to stay away from them.

Will circled the panther warily. Immobilize the villains, Will thought. That's all he had to do, immobilize the villain.

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. The panther sprang again, but Will was able to roll out of the way. There was no pause this time though, the panther pounced at Will again immediately, this time Will barely avoided him. If he would just slow down a little! But the next time Will got lucky, he watched for the instant the panther turned and jumped, and slam! Will's fist connected solidly with the panther's shoulder, sending him slamming into a pine tree. The panther climbed unsteadily to his feet. He tried to take another leap, but this time Will flew into the air to meet him, ramming into him and forcing him to fall back to the ground. For all his claims to be a panther, he didn't land on his feet at all, instead bumping nastily on his side and rolling over several times. It took him several seconds longer to get up this time.

"Will!" Rena screamed from the background. Will looked around frantically, he needed to finish this fast. He flew over to a large rock and lifted it up, quickly zooming back towards the clearing. The panther threw himself at Will once more, and at the same time Will threw his rock. The two collided, the two fell heavily to the ground, knocking into a tree on their way, and neither of the two got back up again.

"Rena!" Will called out, running up to her and ripping apart the ropes binding her to the tree. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She gasped, falling to her feet. "Will," she said, looking up at him, clutching his arm. "Thank you. So much."

"Ah, it was nothing." Will said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No it wasn't." Rena said earnestly. "You saved my life."

"Well, ah, I uh, yeah, I guess." Will said, shrugging his shoulders and smiling.

"But, Will," Rena started hesitantly. "What you did, to save me, I mean, I'm so glad that you did do it, really I am, but . . . well, regular people can't do what you did." She looked up at him carefully.

"Uh, yeah, about that . . ." Will said, licking his lips and glancing at her. This conversation was unavoidable now, no matter how much he'd wanted to keep this part of his life from her. But who had he been fooling? He wouldn't have been able to keep it up that much longer. After all, this _was _his life. "So, you know how there are super heroes and stuff, right?" he said, taking Rena's hand and leading her over to sit down on a fallen down tree. Had he done that, he wondered absently.

"Yes." Rena said, nodding. "Like The Commander and Jetstream."

"Yeah." Will said nodding, though not making eye contact. "Well, I'm kind of one of them."

"One of them?" Rena repeated.

"Yeah. I'm a super too."

"You're a super?" Rena asked in amazement, her mouth dropping open. Will grinned a bit sheepishly and nodded. "Well, I mean, I guess that's the only way you could have done all that . . . but still!" She gazed around the clearing where the fight had taken place just moments before, and then turned back to Will. "But you're just my age!" She protested.

"Well, everyone has to start somewhere." Will said lightly.

"True." Rena said with a laugh. "So, what are your powers. If you don't mind me asking." She added quickly.

"No, no, I don't mind. So, I guess you saw that I can fly. But I also have super strength."

"Wow." Rena said breathlessly, lifting up one of Will's hands. "That's . . . super cool."

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews would be especially appreciated on this chapter, as fight scenes are not my strong suit. <strong>

**And, if you've read this far, thank you so much, and I hope you are enjoying the story. **


	7. Chapter 7

"That's great Will." Layla said earnestly. "I'm so proud of you."

"Yeah." Will said. "The rabid panther won't be bothering anyone else for a long time now."

"You really are a hero." Layla said, grinning.

"Rena wasn't even hurt either." Will added.

"Rena?" Layla asked, her brow furrowing.

"Yeah, Rena." Will said. "The rabid panther kidnapped her to get me to come and fight him. But don't worry, she's fine."

"Oh." Layla said, nodding. "That's good." She was silent for a minute. Will was as well, basking in his own glory. "So, why did the rabid panther kidnap Rena?" Layla asked. I thought she was just, you know, normal."

"Oh yeah, she is." Will responded immediately. "But, the rabid panther took her so that I would come and fight him."

"Oh. I see." Layla said. She walked slowly next to Will, biting her lip as she turned over this new information. "I didn't realize you two were such good friends." Layla commented slowly.

"Yeah. We're friends. Of course we are. We hang out together." Will said.

"You do?" Layla asked.

"Well, like once. But we're friends. Definitely."

* * *

><p>"It's just, I don't know, they've only hung out once, but a villain captured her to get to Will. Don't you think that's a little strange?" Layla asked, slamming her locker door closed. "I'm not overreacting, am I? I just think it's a little weird, that's all. I didn't know they were that close. I don't think they are even that close. So why would a villain kidnap her?"<p>

"Maybe he just wasn't a very smart villain." Abby suggested. "Maybe he just found the first person he saw Will hanging out with."

"Yeah. That could be it." Layla conceded, but she was still frowning.

"Or maybe they thought it would be easier to just kidnap Rena. I mean, any villain would have a tough time trying to kidnap you."

"True," Layla conceded. She walked next to Abby, making their way down to the cafeteria. "It's just that," she started up again. "The villain usually captures the girlfriend, you know? And, I'm his girlfriend, not this Rena."

"Wow, Layla, I'd never thought I'd hear you encouraging such a sexist practice."

"I'm not encouraging it!" Layla quickly protested. "It goes both ways! Like, if someone were to threaten me, you'd expect them to kidnap Will, not some random guy, like my mad science lab partner."

Abby shrugged. "I really don't think you have anything to worry about though Layla. Will's not cheating on you. He's Will, completely honest and completely in love with you."

Layla smiled. "Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I am." Abby replied.

* * *

><p>Carol Peace stood in the kitchen, starting to make spaghetti for dinner. She set the water to start boiling on the stove and pulled out a box of noodles. She broke open the top – and spilled them all over the floor. She winced and started cleaning it up with a sigh. She seemed to be dropping things a lot lately, ever since she had heard the news. Her husband – ex husband – had escaped from prison. Ever since then, she had been on edge. She knew her son, Warren, was worried about her, but shaky hands were the least of her worries at the moment. She was too busy worrying about what Barren would do now that he had escaped. Last time she had given up her powers to put him behind bars. What would it take to save the world, to save her son, this time?<p>

The lights in the house started flickering wildly, on and off, on and off, as if they were in the middle of a thunderstorm. Except it was a clear night. She straightened up slowly, her body tense. She could remember all too well the last time the lights had acted this way.

"Hello Carol." A voice said from behind her.

"Hello Barren." She said, fighting to keep her voice even. She didn't turn around. She didn't have to.

"Ah, making spaghetti I see." He said, striding over to the stove, as if this were a perfectly normal visit, an old friend dropping by.

"Yes." She answered, setting down the box and turning to face him. Jail didn't seem to have changed him much.

"You used to make that quite a bit, as I recall." Carol nearly smiled at the memory. It was back when their house had been a happy place. Nearly a home. "The kitchen looked a lot different back then whenever you were cooking though." It certainly had. There was no need for hands back then, she used to have vegetables chopping themselves and tossing themselves into the pot, dishes flying around the room, all with merely a thought. Barren had always joked that one of these days she was going to accidentally impale someone with all the knives she sent whizzing through the air. But those days were gone now.

"Was I really that bad Carol?" He asked softly. "Was it worth it?" If only she herself knew the answers to those questions, God knows she had asked them often enough.

"You had to be stopped. What are you doing here Barren?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Just stopping by." He said breezily, walking through into the living room, his long black coat whirling around him like a cape.

Carol followed him, knowing all too well that he couldn't be left unattended for a moment. "I see I've missed Warren." He observed, looking around the empty room.

"Yes." She answered, leaning against the doorframe. There wasn't any point in calling the police, or the Strongholds, he would disappear long before they got here. Besides, she knew that she at least wasn't in any danger from him. She never had been. It was the rest of the world she was worried about.

"Pity." He said, crossing over to the mantel and looking at the pictures, featuring Warren as he progressed from an infant, to elementary school, up to the present. "I've been trying to get in touch with him."

She shook her head. "Don't." She warned.

"Why not?" He asked, picking up a frame. "He's just as much my son as yours."

"You weren't here. For anything. You've missed his entire life. Don't try to pull him into your plans now."

"It's his choice Carol." Battle said lightly, examining the picture. She just shook her head, her face dark. "I haven't seen my son in sixteen years." He said, turning around, now deadly serious. "That's a long time. I intend to find him now." He turned back to the pictures, tapping his fingers along the back of a chair. "But, he seems to have neglected my first invitations."

He walked over to her, setting the picture down on a table. "Tell him to find me." He said, tapping the glass. "Or I find her."

Mrs. Peace looked down and saw a picture taken over the summer, of Warren standing with his friends. In the photo, he had his arms wrapped around Abby, smiling down at her.

She looked back up, but Battle was done talking. He had already turned around and was headed out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

"I really like the specialized classes!" Layla was gushing as they headed towards the gym. "It's actually really helpful to learn about all the different plant types. I think I might actually be able to make lemons soon!" She beamed. "So, how was yours Will?"

"Oh, the usual." He said, shrugging. "We lifted weights." It wasn't nearly his favorite activity at school. No, that would be . . . Save the Citizen.

Will broke out into a smile as they pushed the gym doors open, revealing the Save the Citizen court set up. Finally! He had been itching to get back to it for days.

"Will! Layla!" Zach called out, waving wildly from up in the stands. They clambered their way up to him and the others, settling down next to them.

"Guess who's starting today." Magenta said, nodding towards the scoreboard. "Speed and Lash."

"No way." Will said, staring at it. Well, he was pretty confident that he would be the first pair up now.

"And their names just happened to come up together?" Layla asked, frowning. "I thought this was supposed to be random!"

"I'm just stating the facts." Magenta said. "I think Coach Boomer has a soft spot for Lash and Speed though."

Maybe, Will thought, glancing over at said person, who was lounging back in his chair and scribbling something on his clipboard. Will didn't really care one way or another. He had known this was going to come at some point, might as well be today. He was ready for them.

"Aright, alright, settle down, settle down." Coach Boomer yelled out. The noise lowered slightly, from a roar to a low rumble. Coach Boomer frowned. "I said," he shouted, "SETTLE DOWN!" The gym was instantly silenced. Boomer sat back, satisfied. "You pansies." He added.

"Alright, first up, Lash and Speed. Who do you guys want to be?"

"Villains." They replied, to no one's surprise.

"And who do you want to play the heroes?"

"We want Stronghold,"

That was also no surprise. Will had already started getting up, and now headed for the changing rooms. Warren got up as well.

"And Ethan."

Warren stopped in surprise, shrugged, and sat back down. Ethan just sat there, shocked. He looked to either side of him, as if wondering if they had been talking to some other Ethan.

"Me?" He asked.

"Yeah, you." Magenta said, nudging him. "Go on."

"That means you popsicle!" Boomer roared from his seat. "Move it!"

Ethan scuttled to his feet and followed Will to suit up.

A few minutes later they were standing in the arena, only a pit of razors between them and Lash and Speed. It was going to be different, working with Ethan. Will was so used to Warren, they had fallen into using familiar moves, a pattern, a set plan. He had only been paired with someone else few times, and none of then had gone as well. Especially in a match that mattered so much to him personally, he would have rather been paired with Warren. Why hadn't they picked Warren, anyway? It was him and Warren who had first beaten them in Save the Citizen. Oh well, it didn't matter. Will was determined to beat them anyway.

"I'll take Speed first." He muttered to Ethan, who nodded, looking slightly petrified.

The buzzer sounded, and Will leaped into action. Speed had gone off like a shot as well – and was headed straight towards Will. But Will had gotten smarter since the last time he had seen Speed – he dug his heels in and stuck out both arms. Speed crashed into him, but Will didn't fall to the ground, instead it was Speed who was sent stumbling off in a different direction, completely thrown off track.

This was his chance, Speed was off his guard. Will quickly checked for Lash, who was loping towards the other side of the stadium, and presumably Ethan, but he couldn't worry about him for the moment, Lash wasn't an immediate threat to him. Hopefully Ethan would be able to hold him off. Will launched himself into the air and sped over to where Speed had ricocheted off to, struggling merely to not fall over his own feet. Will swooped down and lifted him up by the back of his shirt, proceeding to deposit him atop a light post. Speed was dumbstruck.

"Wha – bu – how?" He sputtered incredulously as Will flew back towards the ground. "Since when can you fly?" He hollered.

But Will ignored him, his attention was now on Lash. He ran towards him, he had stretched himself to several times his normal height, and appeared to have Ethan-like goo on his hand. Will zoomed over as fast as he could.

"Gross!" Lash yelped, looking disgusted as he flung his hand back and forth.

Will made it across the floor, and, as Lash was distracted, got a clear hit at him. Lash smacked into the glass and fell to the ground, his arms coiling and shrinking like a tape measure.

The Ethan-glop went flying towards the razor pit. Will could only watch, hoping he didn't land right in it. Midway through his flight Ethan transformed back into his usual self – just in time to tear through the citizen, rolling to the floor clutching the doll.

The crowd bust into a tidal wave of noise, cheering and clapping and screaming and chanting all at once. Will cracked a huge smile as he ran over to Ethan, helping him to his feet.

"That was awesome." He told him plainly as he high-fived him.

"Thanks." Ethan said. "I was really nervous."

Coach Boomer stared at his timer in disbelief. "That," He shouted over the crowd's cheering, "Is one of the fastest Save the Citizen times I have ever seen!"

Speed was carefully making his way down from the light post, with help from Lash, and they both were sending murderous glares in Will and Ethan's direction.

But Will hardly noticed and cared even less, and Ethan seemed to be the same.

"Wow Will!" He called out over the screams of the crowd. "This is great! Is this what it's like for you and Warren all the time?"

* * *

><p>Will emerged from the locker rooms several minutes later, scanning the crowd for his friends. There they were – they weren't looking for him, they were engrossed in their own conversation. Oh well, he would sneak up on them. Man, they were going to be so psyched! That time was going on the record board for sure, and he hadn't even had Warren to help him!<p>

He crept up the bleachers, high-fiving a few people along the way, and snuck behind Layla. Her red ponytail was bobbing as she nodded fervently at something Abby was saying.

"Guess who!" He said, grabbing her shoulders. She jumped, startled, in surprise and twisted around.

"Oh, hi Will!" She said, a smile breaking across her face. Will beamed back at her.

"Hey Will!" Zach said. "Awesome job!"

"Thanks." Will said, settling down and preparing to bask in praise.

"So," Layla said, turning back to Abby, "Which specialty classes were you guys in?"

Will's smiled slid off his face. Not those specialty classes again. Layla didn't seem able to talk of anything else. Frankly, Will was tired of it. He had more than enough of them in the first few weeks, when he had been tentatively put in a super physics class as his specialty, the rationale being he could figure out the trajectory angles when he flew or threw stuff. Luckily he had gotten himself switched out of that pretty quick, instead he was now taking basically a P.E. class. But he didn't really care about some P.E. class. What he cared about was save the citizen. Unfortunately, no one else in the group seemed to share his mindset.

"Yeah, me and Warren were both put in a chemistry class, you know, since our powers have to do with elements. I didn't really like it, but it was pretty useful. Like, even though mine and Warren's powers are opposites, we would both be useless without oxygen."

"Wouldn't pretty much everyone be useless without oxygen?" Magenta quipped.

"Well, yes." Abby admitted. "But most would still be able to use their powers, hopefully to obtain oxygen. But me and Warren wouldn't, since our powers depend on it."

Had no one else noticed how brilliantly he'd done? They seemed to have no idea that anything at all had happened down in the arena. "So, what did you guys think of the match?" He asked casually, trying to steer the conversation back around. But his comment went ignored.

"Of course, Abby's even less useful," Warren said, tugging her closer to him. "Since she wasn't even deemed as a 'Survival Power.'"

"Oh, I wasn't either." Said Magenta dismissively.

"Oh, I'm one of those!" Said Layla. "Because, I could grow food. And I guess, Warren, because you could make a campfire really easily." He nodded.

"We got a pretty good time." Will mentioned carelessly. He may as well have been silent.

"But ice and a guinea pig just aren't that useful." Abby said with a mock sigh.

"Hey! I'm a survivor too!" Zach said eagerly.

"Right, the human flashlight." Magenta said. "What's your specialty class, fluorescent clothing?"

"No, chemistry." Zach answered. "Hey, so, when you guys had chemistry, did Mr. Medulla ever call someone a 'hopelessly incompetent, blundering imbecile with the mental capacity of a microscopic organism'? Just hypothetically. Does he do that often? And what does that mean, exactly?"

Oh well, Will thought, giving up. They had seen him win at save the citizen plenty of times before, so what if they missed one match? Even if it had been an incredibly-epic-awesome one.

* * *

><p>"Hey guys!" Ethan piped up, finally surfacing from the locker rooms.<p>

"Ethan!" The group shouted as one.

"That was amazing!"

"I couldn't believe it!"

"You were awesome!"

"The way you flew across the pit of doom!"

"What you did to Lash – that was hilarious!"

Will sat there, his mouth gaping slightly. So they had all been watching. They were certainly all full of compliments now. What had happened when he had come back? Why hadn't he gotten this reception? Hadn't they noticed that it had been _him _who had incapacitated both Speed _and _Lash?

But then Will looked at Ethan's face. He was smiling wider than Will had ever seen him before under everyone's congratulations. Will had had more than enough praise from save the citizen. He really didn't need any right now. But it was about time that Ethan had gotten some.

Will stood up to go add his own hand to Ethan's shoulder.

"Great job man."

* * *

><p>"So, just kidnap her, notify him, and let him rescue her. Don't make it too difficult, heaven knows we don't want the villain to win!" The man in the green suit opposite him rolled his eyes, but Barren barreled right along. "But be sure to add some style. We want drama. Plenty of drama, never too much drama!"<p>

The man nodded briskly. "And – payment.?" He interjected.

"Why but of course." Barren replied, pulling a wad of cash out of a pocket, and counting out a series of bills into the green man's waiting hand.

The green man looked at it, then back up at Barren. "That's it?" he asked.

Barrens happy go lucky face darkened. "I beg your pardon?" he asked.

"I'm going to get myself thrown in jail for this, and this is all you're giving me?"

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be getting a tenth of that, as you are hardly even a third class villain, struggling to so much as rob a bank. That is more than enough to cover your bail, especially considering that no one will be harmed in this little escapade.

"Now, deary," he said, turning to the girl standing to his right. "Go on and give him your address, unless you want to set up a date with him, but I think we ought to make this one a bit more personal, don't you agree?"

"Absolutely." She replied, stepping forward. "I live on Greenwich Way, at – "

The man took out a pad of paper and quickly scribbled down the address.

"Oh, and be sure to give her plenty of opportunities for screaming!" Barren called out as he walked away. "You were so good at that last time, dear."

"Thank you." She answered primly, with a smile.

"But," he continued, giving her a look, as if he was merely a disappointed father, "It seems that you have not been quite good enough."

"I just need more time." She insisted. "Besides, it's not my fault, he has a girlfriend."

"Don't look at me!" Barren warned, lifting a finger. "You're the teenage girl here, not me. Aren't you all supposed to be experts at breaking boys up with their girlfriends?"


	9. Chapter 9

Will sat in his bedroom, slaving over a textbook. He didn't know how he was going to be able to read all this by tomorrow . . . let alone understand it.

Suddenly, something hit him in the back of the head. "Ow!" He said, rubbing the spot as he felt around behind him for the offending object. It was a rock, wrapped in paper. Will glanced towards his open window. There didn't seem to be anyone there. He turned back to the rock, carefully unfolding the paper. There was a message printed on it, composed of cut-out newspaper letters, ransom note style. Will read it, his curiosity swiftly changing into dread. It read: 'I have Rena. If you don't wish harm to come to her, be at the wharf before sundown.'

Rena, again! Will knew what he had to do. He raced down the stairs, skipping the last two, flung open the front door, and flew into the open air. He soared towards the sky, turning around, heading towards the water.

"William Stronghold!" A shrill voice shouted from below. Will looked down in surprise. His mother was standing on the doorstep, bellowing up at him, a look of deep disapproval on her face.

"What?" Will called back, hovering in midair.

"Don't you still have homework to do?" She asked, seeming as if she already knew the answer.

"Well, yeah, but –"

"No buts! You come back down here this instant!"

"No, but mom, you don't underst –"

"I said this instant!"

"But there was a note, Rena, I have to go!"

"You're not going anywhere until you finish your homework young man. Don't make me come up there!"

Will sank reluctantly back down to the ground. "But mom," He protested. "I got this note, and I have to get to the wharf, Rena's in danger!"

"Well that will just have to wait. You can't go around neglecting your school work, Will. I know you've defeated several villains already, but there's still things you need to learn."

"I know mom, but this is really important! Here, I'll show you the note, you have to let me go, I'll finish my homework later, I promise!"

Will flew back upstairs, grabbing the note and depositing it in his mother's hands. She examined it briefly. "You don't need to be there before sundown, Will." She pointed out.

"Exactly!" He said. "I have to hurry!"

"Nonsense! There's still several hours before sundown. That's plenty of time to finish your homework, and then you can go save this Rena."

"What? But mom –"

"No more buts! That's my final word. March!"

Will sighed, hanging his head.

* * *

><p>Once Will had finally done enough work to satisfy his mother, he set off again, flying at full speed. He hoped he wasn't too late – he couldn't be, the sun hadn't even set yet! Rena had to still be okay . . .<p>

He finally made it to the wharf, the stiff sea breeze blowing against him, making it more difficult to fly. He landed a bit unsteadily, looking around desperately for a sign of a villain. He hadn't said where on the wharf, Will thought with a sudden burst of panic. What if he couldn't find them? What if they hurt Rena just because he was wandering around, lost?

"Will Stronghold!" A voice shouted. Will looked up, to see a man dressed all in green standing several meters upshore on an outcropping. That was undoubtedly his villain.

Will flew up to him, arriving almost instantaneously. "Will!" Rena cried out as soon as she saw him. She had a large anchor tied to her.

"Don't worry!" Will yelled.

"Save me Will!" She screamed.

Will's attention was quickly forced away from Rena to the green-dressed man. His skin appeared to be . . . bubbling. A few seconds later, where the man had stood was a gigantic green frog.

Will relaxed slightly. Okay, he could take a frog.

The frog took a halting leap forward, its legs buckling under it's weight. Will flew forward determinedly and punched it, sending it flying backwards.

"Will!" He head Rena scream in the background. He flew towards the frog-man again, giving it another hit. It fell down again. Will flew up in the air a bit, circling around for a better angle. Just a few more times, and then that should do it . . .

The frog stumbled to its feet again, and a long pink tongue shot out of its mouth, shooting with impeccable aim straight at Will. It struck him in the shoulder, and wouldn't come off. Will fell to the ground, struggling with the large slimy thing. The just as suddenly it coiled back into the frog's mouth with a slllurrpp.

Will bounded back to his feet, but the frog was ready too. It didn't bother with jumping anymore – it hardly even moved. It just snapped its tongue out again and again at Will, forcing him into a type of dance, weaving around in the air, trying to avoid this sticky rubber band.

"Will!" He head Rena scream again. "Help!" He looked over his shoulder, narrowly avoiding another shot from the tongue, and saw that the tide was slowly creeping in, closer to Rena, who could merely sit there, helplessly stuck to the anchor.

"I'm coming!" Will shouted. A second later he was struck back to the ground; in his distraction, the frog had managed to hit him.

He had to end this now, Rena couldn't afford any more delays. He sprang into the air again, ducking one shot, dodging out of the way of the other – now! This time as the tongue lurched towards him, Will didn't move out of the way, instead reaching out a hand and grabbing it. The frog-man gulped in startled surprise, wriggling its tongue helplessly. Will didn't let go. He yanked the tongue closer to him and began tying it in a huge knot. The frog's eyes widened, he flailed wildly with his legs to no avail. The tongue successfully tied up, Will hoisted up the frog and flew out over the water. A considerable ways out, Will finally took mercy on the frog, and let go. He watched as the frog plopped down into the water, then sped back to Rena.

The water was up past her knees now, but luckily she hadn't been carried out. "Will!" She called out desperately as soon as she saw him. Will didn't have time to untie her, he simply lifted her up, anchor and all, and flew away.

"Oh my gosh Will." She said as they flew further and further from the wharf. "Thank you so much."

"No problem." Said Will. "So, you're a little danger prone."

"I guess." Rena said hesitantly, with an attempt at a laugh. "But nothing like this ever happened to me before I met you."

"Wow." Will said. "Well, I guess that's a lucky coincidence. If you hadn't known me, I wouldn't have been able to save you!"

"Yeah." Rena said, although she didn't sound incredibly grateful.

* * *

><p>Zach's leg bounced up and down uncontrollably, but he hardly even noticed, it was almost a reflex for him whenever he had to sit still. He was staring at the back of Magenta's head, resisting the mysteriously overwhelming temptation to launch a spitball or two into her glossy hair, ones that would make her turn around so he could see her face, so her eyes would meet his. But she probably wouldn't like that. She'd say he was being juvenile. Was he being juvenile? He scrunched himself down in his seat at the thought – no easy feat considering his height. He was the underdog of guys of the group now. Ethan was coming off a win in Save the Citizen, something Zach hadn't achieved yet, Will was a Stronghold, and Warren, well, Warren was Warren. And then there was him. But, he was pretty awesome, he tried to convince himself. He was suave, he was cool – he did want to be cool, right? But wasn't he also supposed to be hot? Didn't girls like hot guys? Maybe that was why Warren was so popular with girls . . . How was he supposed to be cool and hot at the same time? It was starting to make his brain hurt, so his mind skittered along to a new topic just as it always did. Magenta was always cool and confident. She never fumbled over her words or wondered what the right answer was or tried with everything she had to impress someone – she never wanted, or needed, to impress anyone – only to fall flat on her face, all things that Zach seemed to be doing constantly. Especially when he was around Magenta. Almost enough to make one wonder why he kept on hanging around her. He was drawn to her almost like a magnet. But wait, his power wasn't magnetism – was it? No, it was light. He was Zach Attack! Shazaam! He started glowing, right on cue. Of course, nobody noticed under the fluorescent lighting of the classroom, but Zach started grinning and sat up a little straighter.<p>

His eyes skittered towards the clock again, watching the second hand avidly. What time did this class end again? He could never remember – the bell rang suddenly, jolting him out of his thoughts. Well, that answered his question. He'd have to remember that time, he thought, but in the next instant the thought was lost as he sprang out of his chair to Magenta's desk, where she was tiredly gathering her things.

Magenta glanced up as Zach bounded up to her, forced to suppress a smile that always somehow drifted to the surface whenever she saw him and his exuberance.

"Want to walk to class?" He asked hopefully.

"No." She said sarcastically. "I want to fly there." She shouldered her bag and exited the room, not bothering with a backwards glance. She knew Zach was behind her. He always was.

She hadn't meant to come off as harsh. Maybe that was a lie, yes, she had been irritated. But she really did like walking with him every day. He was entertaining, he could make her laugh, and he was always so eager, so happy to see her, to be with her.

But they walked to class together every day. Did he honestly have to ask her? He needed to gain a little confidence, she couldn't be the only one making all the decisions, no matter how much she liked the control. He needed a bit of backbone.

Zach was one of her best friends. But what scared her was how that wasn't enough. She wanted more. She had thought Zach had too. But it had been over a year, and he hadn't made a move yet. Had she been wrong? Was she too cocky, misinterpreting their friendship? She couldn't imagine anything worse than that, trying to move forward with Zach when he hadn't been thinking anything of the sort . . .

With a bit of effort, Magenta dragged herself out of the dregs of her thoughts and tried to actually pay attention to Zach's babble. She wondered if even he knew what he was saying.

Zach had no clue what he was saying. He just kept on talking and talking, because he knew that as long as he did, Magenta would walk next to him, listen to him, and look at him, and every time she did his heart and stomach did a kind of synchronized acrobatics and his spirits soared. He'd do anything to keep that feeling.


	10. Chapter 10

"I'm looking forward to this." Layla said, as she and Will walked into the Paper Lantern. After Will had rescued Rena for the second time, Layla had decided she wanted to meet her.

"That's great." Will said. "I think you guys will really like each other." At least, they should, right? He liked both of them, so it should follow that they would like one another, right?

"I really hope she's as nice as you say she is too." Layla said. "Because if she isn't, it could be a real problem that she knows about your powers Will."

"Well, what else was I supposed to do?" Will asked defensively, something that he seemed to be doing quite a bit.

"I know, I know, I'm just reminding you that you have to be really careful about who knows about your powers. Really, no civilian is supposed to know."

"I know, I know." Will said tiredly. He had been hearing it for ages, but still remained utterly convinced that he'd done the only possible right thing. "Hey, there she is now!" He said, pointing towards the door, a large smile breaking out across his face.

"She's really pretty." Layla observed quietly to Will as Rena made their way over to their table.

"Hi guys!" She said perkily. "Hello Will, it's really good to see you again."

"Yeah, you too." Will responded instantly.

"And you must be Layla." Rena said with a smile rivaling Will's, holding out a hand. "Hi, I'm Rena."

Layla took her hand. "Layla. It's so nice to meet you."

Rena sat down, still staring at Layla. "Sorry," She said quickly. "It's just, you don't look anything like I'd expected you would. You're really pretty."

"Thanks." Layla said, casting a look at Will. What had he been telling her, then?

"So," Rena said, barreling right along, propping her elbows on the table. "You are like, so lucky to be dating Will." She told Layla matter-of-factly.

"Oh, well, I guess I am." Layla said with a laugh, placing a hand on Will's arm.

"I mean, seriously! He is so nice, and funny, and," She looked around the restaurant and leaned in closer. "His super powers too! I mean, wow!" She sat back, shaking her head in wonder. "I mean, it's just amazing! I just love it when he flys me, it's the most amazing feeling,"

"You flew her?" Layla asked Will, a smile stuck on her face. That was really irresponsible of him, he should have never flown a civilian over Marxville, when he was still in high school, not even supposed to use his powers outside of school, and without an identity or anything . . . so reckless.

"Well, yeah," Will muttered back, shrugging.

"Oh, but I loved it!" Rena gushed.

The barrage of compliments continued. Rena seemed to have nothing but good things to say about Will, and little else to say besides that. Layla could see why Will liked her so much, sitting with her for him was like having a mirror that reflected only the good in him. And Rena was nice enough, Layla supposed. Although she didn't seem very interested in Layla, and Layla had to admit she wasn't very interested in her either.

Finally they were able to find a break in Rena's gush about Will's flying skills (which was almost making Layla wonder if they were discussing the same Will, as flying was this Will's weak point, he was constantly running into things and getting lost), to suggest that they order some food.

Luckily, with their orders came a change in topic of conversation – but to Layla at least, it wasn't a particularly welcome one. She nearly preferred Rena's prattle to an overview of all of Rena and Will's 'good times' together. Good times, she nearly snorted. I've know Will forever, she's known him, what, a few months? How many 'good times' could they have had?

Apparently a lot, as they continued talking about them well after they had finished eating. Every point seemed to be hilarious. Layla sat there, slowly stirring the remains of her soup around in the bowl, watching as Will and Rena laughed hysterically over some inside joke. How could they have inside jokes already? She though mutinously. She had given up trying to keep track of their conversation long ago, everything they were discussing had nothing to do with her. Layla found herself wishing that Warren was on duty now, then at least she'd have someone to talk to. Someone who at least realized she was sitting right there. But no, he was probably off somewhere with Abby. Layla sighed, rather audibly she thought, but neither Will nor Rena seemed to hear her. How had she gotten into this situation, she wondered, feeling like a third wheel with her own boyfriend?

She glanced at her phone. Well, she had met Rena, had found that Rena was nice enough, and now wished to leave and never see Rena again. They had stayed more than long enough, over three hours.

"Well," Layla started, interrupting yet another riotously funny recollection. "It's really time that we've gotten going. It was really nice meeting you Rena."

"Oh, you have to go already? That's too bad." Rena said, with something that neared a frown. Layla was beginning to wonder if she was even capable of that facial expression.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." Layla said, picking up her bag. "Will?"

"Oh no, Will, you don't have to leave too, do you?" Rena asked, looking truly devastated.

"No, of course not!" Will said, lounging back in his seat. Layla looked at him in surprise. "You can go ahead Layla." Will said. "I'll just stay a little longer."

"Okay." Layla said hesitantly. Will and Rena quickly reengaged themselves in conversation, completely forgetting Layla. She slowly walked away, glancing over her shoulder to see them sitting at the table, looking intently at one another, talking a mile a minute. She walked out the door, feeling something she couldn't quite place. Why was Will in there, with Rena, instead of out here, with her?

* * *

><p>"I'm home." Warren called out, opening the door and walking inside.<p>

"In the kitchen!" His mother called back, and Warren followed. "How was school?" His mom asked.

"Good." Warren answered, opening up the fridge. Great. They were all out of hot sauce. Again.

"Do you have a lot of homework?" She inquired.

"Some." There were some jalapeno peppers though. He guessed he'd just have to settle for those.

"How's the course at school coming?" As seniors, they were now allowed access to an obstacle course. Not just allowed, but they were required to complete it, achieving certain goals along the way, once again in pairs.

"Good." Warren replied. "Me and Abby have it pretty well beat."

His mom shifted in her chair, eyes skittering away at the mention of Abby. "Abby." She repeated. "Do you . . . see her much?"

"Uh, yeah." Warren said, shifting slowly towards the door. "She's kind of my girlfriend, remember?" Girlfriend. It was only maybe the third time he'd called her that. He was still getting used to the word, it felt strange – though not necessarily in a bad way.

"Yes. Well. About that . . . maybe you two ought to just take things slower for a little while. Not hang out together as much."

"What?" Warren asked. "But we just signed up to be partners together." That had been perhaps, no, definitely, the biggest move they had made in their relationship so far. Although the 'hero – sidekick' system was gone, supers were still sent out to fight crime in pairs. These pairs were usually assigned randomly, and announced around graduation. But, you could put in a request for a certain person, where you would have a chance of it being approved by the administration. That was what he and Abby had done, only a week or so ago. They had basically written on a piece of paper that they would very much like to spend the next several years, at the very least, of their lives together. .

But now, right after that huge commitment, this? He normally did take his mother's advice very seriously At least, he really tried. "Why? I thought you liked her."

"No, I do." She put in quickly. "It's just that, well, everyone needs a break now and again, wouldn't you agree?"

"But mom, we're finally trying to be committed now."

Carol sighed. She should have known it wouldn't have been this easy. Her son always had been pigheaded.

"I'm not saying that you should break up with her." She said backtracking, trying to appease him. "Just not spend as much time with each other."

"Why would we do that?"

"Well, you know, if you spend every spare moment with someone, eventually you're going to get tired of them. A break will probably help you to last longer in the long run."

Warren eyed his mother warily.

"This doesn't have anything to do with my father, does it?" He asked suddenly.

"Absolutely not." His mother replied quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly. Warren's eyes narrowed.

"Abby doesn't care about him." He said defensively. "We talked about it."

"Of course, I'm sure she doesn't." His mother said placidly. "But all the same, it doesn't change the facts."

"What facts? That my dad's a psycho super villain?"

"Your father is not insane."

"He comes pretty close." While no one else was allowed to talk about his father, excepting perhaps his mother, Warren wasn't feeling particularly amiable towards him at the moment.

"He's troubled. With clouded morals. But he is in perfect control of his mind."

"Whatever." Warren said, starting to leave the room.

"I mean it Warren." His mom said sharply. He stopped, turning back around reluctantly. "It's not good for you two to keep on doing this."

"Why not? You were fine with it a week ago. And like I said, we just signed up to be partners. Now's not exactly the best time to take a break. Besides, nothing bad's going to come of us."

"You never know."

"What?" Warren asked suspiciously.

"You can never be too careful." She insisted. "Nothing bad would come of you two taking a breather either, so why not try it?"

"Why do you think we need to take a break all of a sudden anyway?"

"No reason." His mother answered immediately. "None at all. Just a passing thought. You ought to consider it. That's all." She turned back to sipping her coffee.

Although a moment earlier Warren had been itching to get out of this conversation, now he was suspicious. He had lived with his mother for more than long enough to know when she was trying to conceal something.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Nothing." She replied. "Why do you think something happened?"

"Because you're acting weird." He walked cautiously back towards her. "Did something happen?" His face paled as a thought occurred to him, remembering the message he had received from his father. "Does it have something to do with . . . dad?"

His mother's face paled as soon as the word left his lips. It was a strange, heavy word, that seemed to fill the room. It felt wrong, difficult to say. But he knew that the word had hit the mark.

"It does, doesn't it? What did he say to you? Did he threaten you?" The very idea clouded Warren's head with anger. When it came down to a choice between his parents, he knew which one he'd pick, every time. He may be filled with wild curiosity at the thought of his father, but his mother had been there with him. Always.

"No, of course not." His mother quickly reassured him, and the feeling began to ebb, though he still knew that a visit from his father could not possibly have brought him anything good.

"What did he say?" Warren asked again.

"He merely imparted," His mother said, stepping around her words carefully, "that it might be a good idea if you stopped seeing Abby for a while."

Had he threatened Abby? Warren couldn't see or hear anything for a second. The idea hadn't even occurred to him, his father didn't even know Abby, how could she possibly be in danger from him?

"What does he want from her?" Warren growled. He couldn't have Abby, Warren wouldn't let him.

"He doesn't want anything from her." His mom said steadily. She gave a sigh and looked straight at Warren. "It's what he wants from you."

It suddenly clicked into place. He was the one putting Abby in danger. His father had given him one chance, but he'd turned him down. Now he was using a threat.

"How long ago?" Warren asked urgently. He wondered how much time his father had given him, if at this very moment Abby might be in –

"Almost a week."

"Why didn't you tell me!" Warren exploded.

"I didn't want you to be in this position." His mother explained.

But not wanting something didn't change the facts. "I have to go." He said, and raced out the door.

Warren ran out to his car, pulling out his phone as he jammed his keys into the ignition.

"Come on." He growled, not entirely sure which inanimate object he was talking to. The car started up, but the phone went to voicemail. "Damn it." Warren cursed, as he sped into the street.

A few minutes later, he was in front of Abby's house. It was still there at least, not burned to the ground like in the image that had been burned into his mind since his mom had given him his father's message.

He leaped up the front steps and pounded on the door. He heard footsteps from inside, and the door opened. Warren stopped breathing for a moment. It was Abby. Thank god.

"Warren," She hissed. "This isn't funny, I'm not introducing you to my parents –" He hardly heard her, cutting her off as his arms wound around her, crushing her to his cheast. She didn't look hurt at least. But then again, appearances could be deceiving.

"Are you okay?" He asked, desperately clutching her shoulders, staring straight at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Se answered slowly, staring at him confused. "Warren, what's going on? What are you doing here? Are you okay?" She asked, her expression changing to one of worry.

"You're sure?" Warren asked, his stare unwavering.

"Sure what?"

"That you're okay." He repeated impatiently.

"Yes, I'm fine." She insisted, her eyes searching his face, as she hesitantly lifted a hand up to his shoulder. "What happened?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"You haven't been getting any weird messages?" Warren demanded. "Nothing out of the ordinary?"

Warren." Abby said firmly, not answering his question. "What's wrong?"

Warren studied her face for another minute, finally deciding that nothing had in fact happened to her. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Warren." Abby said again after a minute, pushing gently against his chest. "What's going on?"

Warren looked at her. She was so beautiful. So perfect. He couldn't do this to her. His mother was right, staying with her put her in danger. But he loved her. God, he really did love her, didn't he? When had that happened? It didn't matter. How was he going to let her go now? He didn't have a choice now though. His father had already made it for him. If you love something, let it go . . .

"Nothing." He said, taking a step back and shoving his hands into his back pockets. Abby stared at him warily, one hand resting lightly on the door frame.

"You're sure?" She asked, eyeing him with a gaze that seemed to pierce right through him.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He repeated, backing up another step. "Just stopping by. See you around."

"See ya." She said. He turned and walked quickly back to his car, not risking a glance back.


	11. Chapter 11

"So, do you want to have a study group the day after tomorrow?" Layla asked Will as they walked slowly home from the bus stop. "That Mad Science test looks like it's going to be tough."

"Actually, I already have plans with Rena." Will said.

"Oh." Layla looked away, pursing her lips.

"Hey, speaking of Rena, what did you think of her? At the Paper Lantern?"

"Well, I suppose she was nice." Layla said, not really looking at Will.

"Oh, come on Layla." Will said. "That's not really saying anything. Tell me what you really think of her, I won't be offended."

"The truth?" Layla asked. Will nodded. "Okay. I didn't really like her."

"What? Why not? What's wrong with her?"

"Well, I don't know if anything's really _wrong_ with her," Layla said, "It's just, I don't know, all she could talk about was how amazing your powers are,"

"What? That's not true! And besides, they are pretty amazing. Especially for someone who isn't a super!"

"Well, yes, but there's more to talk about than just your powers. And there's more to you than just your powers."

"What do you mean?" Will asked suspiciously.

"I'm just saying, that Rena seemed to like them an awful lot. Seemed to be a bit obsessed with them . . ."

"What, don't you like my powers?"

"Of course I do, but I don't feel the need to talk about them constantly."

"So what are you saying?"

"Will," Layla sighed. "I just think that maybe Rena likes your powers more than she actually likes you."

"What?" Will exploded. "That's ridiculous!"

"I mean, it's understandable." Layla explained. "She's probably never met anyone with powers before, so of course she'd be impressed. But, do you really think she'd still like you without your powers?"

"Of course she would! What, do you think my powers are the only thing that makes me great? That no one could possibly like me without my powers?"

"No, of course not, the opposite!" Layla cried. This was not at all going in a good direction. "I think that Rena doesn't care about what's underneath, all she sees are the powers. But I don't."

"Rena didn't even know I had powers until after we started hanging out!" Will bellowed.

"Well, didn't you only hang out once before she found out?" Layla gently pointed out.

"So?" Will asked.

"So? Will, I knew and liked you for years before you even had powers!"

"But you didn't start dating me until I did." Will reminded her.

"Your powers have nothing to do with why I'm dating you Will." Layla said seriously. "I still would have gone out with you if you were still the only person in Sky High without powers. Because I've been in love with you since the first grade Will Stronghold."

"So my powers mean nothing to you?" Will asked.

"I wouldn't care if you couldn't fly, if you were no stronger than an average person. But, I'm glad that you do have them, because I know they make you really happy."

"That is so not true." Will said flatly.

"What?" Layla said, stunned, her temper beginning to flare. "You think I would lie about something like that?"

You don't care about what makes me happy. If you did, you'd be glad I was friends with Rena, not insulting her. If you did, you wouldn't have hated Gwen, you wouldn't have resented me moving to hero track, you wouldn't ignore me during Save the Citizen!"

"I'm just worried about you!" Layla said, her voice rising. "I think you're making a mistake, trusting her so much,"

"You know what I think?" Will said, raising his voice as well. "I think you liked me better before I had powers." Layla just stood there, open-mouthed. "Back when you could pity me. Back when nobody liked me."

"I liked you!" Layla cried.

"And now with my powers other people like me and you can't stand it!" Will shouted. "Yeah, guess what, other people like me, and oh, guess, what else, some people actually think my powers are pretty cool. Imagine that!"

"You know what?" Layla said. "Fine. Go and hang out with Rena. I really don't care. And if you get hurt by her, don't come crying to me. I don't care anymore if you have the worst taste in friends."

"Yeah, I think I have made some poor choices in friends." Will said, looking straight at Layla.

"Well maybe I have too." She replied. She turned around and started heading towards her house. "You'd better go make some more plans with Rena, Will." She called out over her shoulder, her voice starting to choke. "Because you won't be spending any more time with me."

"Sounds good to me." Will called back. He too turned in the opposite direction towards his house, every inch of him fuming.

* * *

><p>"So, . . ." Magenta said, swiveling around in her chair to face Layla.<p>

"Hm?" Layla asked, glancing up. She was searching through her bag for a pen, after having broken her pencil tip twice by writing too hard.

"What's going on?" Magenta asked stoically.

"What do you mean?" Layla asked, smiling brightly as she came up with a vivid green pen and opened up her notebook.

"You and Will?" Magenta prompted. Layla simply shrugged, continuing to busy herself with her school supplies. "You didn't even look at each other the whole bus ride. I'm not stupid Layla, I know something's going on. Spill."

Layla sighed, putting her head in her hands. "Me and Will had a fight." She mumbled.

"Ah, so the perfect couple has fights too? They're human!"

"It was a pretty big fight." Layla said miserably.

"You'll make up." Magenta said. Layla wished she had the same confidence. "Anyway," Magenta continued, staring moodily across the classroom. "You aren't the only one with romantic troubles."

"You do?" Layla said, resisting the urge to laugh.

"Pretty much." Magenta said sighing. "I mean, it's so obvious that Zach likes me!" Layla nodded in confirmation. "But he just can't seem to spit it out!"

"Wait." Layla said. "So . . . do you like Zach too?"

Magenta just shrugged. "It's totally embarrassing," she said. "But . . . he's kind of cute."

"Everyone can tell he's crazy about you." Layla reassured her. "He'll ask you out soon, it's just a matter of time."

"I am not patient person, Layla. I can't wait nine years like you did."

"Well, if you like him, why don't you just ask him out?" Layla asked. "Come on, you're a modern woman."

"It's bad enough that I actually like him." Magenta said. "I'll feel slightly less pathetic if I'm the one accepting him, not the one begging him."

"Suit yourself."

* * *

><p>Warren had made his decision already. He was going to go join his father. He didn't really have any other options left, his father had left him no choice. But he at least wasn't going to go around running at his father's beck and call. Warren was going to find him on his own, show up on his own. At least he would still have some control over the situation. He may not have been able to choice where he was going now, but he would pick how he was going to get there.<p>

And there were three people Warren had a strong suspicion would have the information he needed. He lounged against the side of the school, waiting for them to show up.

At last, they came. Penny had been the most reluctant, she resented any second spent in the company of 'those losers'; otherwise known as Lash and Speed, despite the fact that she and spent the last two years as their inmate.

"What is it, Peace?" Lash asked, lanky arms crossed.

"You know where my dad is." Warren said flatly. It wasn't a question.

"And what if we did?" Penny asked, copying Lash's position.

Warren gritted his teeth. This was the hardest part to say, but there was no backing out now, he needed to do this. "Take me to him."

They all stared at him for a few moments. Maybe they really didn't know, Warren thought for an instant. Or maybe they were all just wondering why he needed them to bring him to his own dad.

"Why should we?" Speed asked, adapting the crossed-arm stance as well.

Warren stood up off of the wall, face menacing, and stared Speed down. Speed balked. "I mean, sure, when do we leave?" He squeaked.

Warren looked across the grounds, where he could see Abby, walking, books in hand, with Layla. He knew that she was strong, powerful enough to probably freeze the entire school in a solid block of ice. But from way over here, if you forgot about all of that, she looked so tiny, as if the slightest nudge of a hand would knock her over, one snap and she would break. He wanted to run over next to her and put his arms around her, keep away anything that might break her.

Of course he knew she was tougher than that. It would take much more than that to even bruise her. But they were talking about things much worse than gentle breezes here. Things that just might be able to break her.

"I'm not going to be coming back to school." Warren said, looking back at them. "But while I'm gone, I don't want any of you coming within fifty feet of her." He glared at them, deadly serious. He was pretty sure he knew who had told his dad about Abby, and he didn't want them messing with her any more.

"Okay man." Speed said throwing up his hands.

"Fine, no problem." Lash agreed genially.

Warren looked at Penny, who rolled her eyes and nodded as well.

"Alright." Warren said. "Then come on. Let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

Layla wasn't entirely sure where she was headed, until she found herself going in the direction of the Paper Lantern again. Warren always had been her guru for Will troubles after all, she supposed. And she could do with some good advice right about now, or at the very least some good Chinese food. But she knew that Warren would always have a listening ear for her, and it would feel good to just talk about all of it with him.

She pushed open the door and the bell jangled, announcing her entrance. Of course, it had to be the Paper Lantern where she had met Rena. Now even it was tainted with her.

Layla glanced around, but didn't see Warren anywhere, so she walked up to the counter.

"Excuse me," Layla said to the woman standing there. "Is Warren Peace here?"

"No." She said shortly. "He don't work here anymore."

"What?" Layla asked incredulously.

"He quit." The lady said sharply. "Would you like a take-out menu?"

"No thank you." Layla said. "But when?"

"When what?"

"When did Warren quit? He loved working here!"

"Today."

Layla stood there, stunned. What on earth would induce Warren to quit his job here? She wanted to ask more questions, but could tell that the woman was getting irritated with her, so instead she smiled and walked back out of the restaurant.

Warren had quit . . . Layla had been so caught up in her own problems with Will that she hadn't even noticed him in school. Had he even been there today? She couldn't remember.

* * *

><p>This time Layla knew where she was going, although she almost wished she didn't. She was still mad at Will, the last thing she wanted to do was go straight to his house. But she had a bad feeling boiling in the pit of her stomach. She had to put away her argument with Will for the moment, for Warren's sake. Will was his best friend, if anyone knew something, he would.<p>

Layla raised her hand and rang the doorbell. Will answered it. "Layla." He said flatly, his face expressionless.

"Will," She said. "I know-"

"Look," He cut her off. "I know I said some pretty harsh things yesterday, and I just want to say, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did."

"I'm sorry too Will." Layla said. "I said some pretty bad stuff too. But that's not what I'm here about." Will looked at her in surprise. "It's Warren."

* * *

><p>Warren took the elevator up, watching as it the light pinged floor after floor. What was he going to say to his dad, he wondered. Wow, hey dad, thanks for getting yourself stuck in jail for all of my life.<p>

The doors opened with another ping and Warren stepped out. It wasn't too bad a place, he thought, looking around. Not too much to it . . . but not the sort of creepy villain lair he had been half-expecting and dreading.

He meandered further into the room, it appeared to be deserted. But Warren highly doubted that his dad wasn't there. He picked a small metal ball up from a folding table, tossed it up and down in the air a few times, then set it back down. He glanced around the room again, scanning its sparse occupants. He didn't much feel like snooping through his dad's things. Warren was tired of playing games.

"Hello!" Warren called out, his voice echoing off the bare walls. "Well, I'm here."

A cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows. Warren didn't move, simply waiting for him to step into the light. "So you are." He said, walking further into the room.

Neither of them moved any further, just standing there, quite a distance apart, staring at one another.

It was the first time that Warren had ever seen his dad before, in person, that he could remember. He looked the same as he did in all the photographs: the gaunt face, black hair, tall with piercing eyes. His mom had always said that Warren took after his father as far as looks went. Looking at him now, Warren could see where she was coming from a bit, there were some physical similarities.

He felt no instant connection to this man, their father-son bond didn't suddenly tell him that this was his father. He didn't suddenly love him. He didn't feel any affection for him at all, really. But Warren couldn't say that he really hated him either. He disliked him, especially at this particular moment; threatening his girlfriend and forcing him to come here. But he was filled with a morbid curiosity. Against his will, he wanted to know more. He wanted to know his father.

"Hello Warren." His father said smoothly.

Warren didn't respond.

"How is your mother?" Barren inquired politely.

"Not so great, actually." Warren said. "You see, her psychopath ex-husband just broke out of prison."

"Not ex." Barren said immediately, almost as if it were a reflex. Warren just stared at him. "We never got divorced." Barren said so quietly that Warren almost didn't catch it, his fingers twisting. Warren looked closer and saw that it was a wedding ring he was turning around on his finger.

"It's good to see you again." Barren continued, regaining his composure.

Warren didn't reply again. Anyway, he was still sorting out his emotions on how he felt about seeing him, handling this mainly by ignoring them.

"Now, I know it is normally customary for fathers to give their children presents when they've been away for a while." Barren said, sweeping grandly across the room to a chair in front of a large computer screen, which he seated himself in with a flourish. "But I believe you are a bit old for teddy bears, candies, and the like." Warren just stared at him. "But, I have missed many years worth of birthdays," Battle continued, "So I can't let you walk away empty handed." He swiveled around in his chair again. "How does The World sound to you?"

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you haven't heard from him?" Layla asked for the hundredth time.<p>

"I'm positive Layla." Abby said with a weary sigh. "He hasn't called, hasn't texted, hasn't seen me. Not for the past three days."

"This is bad." Will said grimly.

"Maybe not." Magenta said. "I mean, maybe he just went on a vacation or something. Or maybe he just has the flu."

"No." Layla said shaking her head. "Something serious is going on."

"I'm inclined to agree with Layla." Ethan said. "Such normal excuses do not explain why he has been out of contact with everybody and no one knows where he is. They also do not account for why he quit his job."

"Then what are we gonna do man?" Zach asked, bouncing up and down in his seat. "Are we gonna save him, or what? Hey, you don't think," He lowered his voice, glancing around the room. "You don't think maybe his dad kidnapped him, huh?"

They all looked at one another. "Warren wouldn't just let himself be kidnapped." Abby said finally.

"Barren Battle's pretty powerful though." Magenta pointed out.

"Yeah, but Warren would have definitely put up a fight, and we would have heard on the news if there was some kind of battle."

"There's one thing we haven't tried yet." Layla said suddenly.

"What?" Will asked.

* * *

><p>That afternoon, a motley group of six teenagers gathered on the Peace household doorstep. They all huddled under the small overhanging as Layla rang the doorbell, trying to stay out of the rain.<p>

"Ow, Will, that was my foot!" Magenta complained.

"Sorry."

They all shifted around, trying to give one another more space, but only succeeding in elbowing one another in the ribs.

"Ah! Hey, guys, let me back in! You pushed me out into the rain!" Zach yelped, quickly pushing his way back underneath their slight protection.

"Ick! Zach, you're all wet!"

"Ring the doorbell again Layla." Abby called out.

They all quickly quieted, listening for the sound of the doorbell reverberating through the house.

"It looks like nobody's home." Ethan said, ending the silence.

"We came all the way over here in the rain for nothing?" Magenta groaned.

"No, not for nothing!" Layla insisted. "Maybe, we could leave a note for Warren's mom or something, asking about Warren, or –"

"Maybe the doorbell's broken!" Zach suggested.

"Yeah." Will said, and he knocked smartly on the door. He broke the glass in the little window at the top. "Whoops."

"Will!" Layla said.

"It was an accident!" He said, bending over and trying to sweep up the bits of broken glass, but in doing so nearly knocking Ethan over.

"Hey!"

"Sorry!"

The door suddenly swung open, revealing none other than Warren Peace.

"Nice going, Stronghold." He said, looking at the broken window.

"Warren!" Layla cried. "You're here!"

"And now I'm leaving." He said steadily, closing the door behind him and pushing past them into the rain.

"Warren!" They cried out after him, dashing after him.

"Warren, where are you going?" Will called out.

"Go away!" Warren called back over his shoulder.

"Warren!" Layla said, catching up to him and grabbing a hold of his arm. "What's wrong? Why haven't you been in school? Why haven't you been talking to any of us?"

"None of your business." He said gruffly, attempting to shake her off.

"Warren!" It was Abby now. "What's going on?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, pushing the sopping mass out of his eyes. There was not getting out of it now, he was surrounded. They were all standing there, getting drenched in the rain, hanging on his answer. He hadn't wanted to be the one to tell them . . .

"I'm not going to Sky High anymore." He said clearly.

"What?" Will said. "But why not?"

"Because," Warren continued. "I'm joining up with my dad. Barren Battle."

There was a collective gasp.

"What – but Warren." Abby choked out. "I thought –"

"He's a bad guy Warren!" Zach exploded.

"Why?" Layla asked.

Warren shook his head, as if to brush away all their questions.

"I always was a villain." He said. "No use trying to deny it. I'm destined for it. Might as well admit it now. Why bother trying to be anything different?"

"But you're not a villain, Warren!" Abby protested, reaching towards him.

"You aren't!" Layla repeated. "You've proven you're a hero!"

"I tried being something different, and it didn't work. This is what I really am."

"Warren," Will said carefully. "You don't have to be like your dad."

"Oh don't you?" Warren asked, looking nearly as though he might laugh. "Just look at yourself, Will. Do you still think so?" Will didn't reply.

"Goodbye." Warren said simply, and he turned around and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Abby called out, taking several steps forward. He turned around. "Don't." She said, stretching out an arm towards him.

He paused for a moment, looking as though he wanted to reach out for her as well. But then he said, simply, emotionlessly, "I'm sorry." And turned away, leaving the rest of them standing limp and silent in the pouring rain.


	13. Chapter 13

Abby sat listlessly on the stool, just slowly tracing a design with frost on the kitchen countertop. Layla sat next to her, slowly rubbing her back. They had all relocated back to the Stronghold house after their encounter with Warren. It had left them all a little shell-shocked, but Abby was having a particularly bad time of it.

Quite frankly, Will was getting a little tired of it. It seemed clear to him. Warren had made his choice; he was a villain now, a bad guy. He was their enemy now. He wasn't a friend anymore. It was surprising, but still, they couldn't change the facts. Will didn't like it, of course he didn't, but he couldn't change Warren's mind. The only thing he could do was stop Warren whenever he tried anything. It was Warren's own fault after all. _He _had betrayed _them_. Why should they bother feeling sorry for him?

Unfortunately, the others didn't seem to be of the same mindset. Although not many words had been exchanged since they had trudged inside, there was the feeling that someone had died in the room. Even the normally exuberant Zach was now silent, as Magenta tried to dry his hair off with a towel.

"We need to, like, report this or something." Will said, trying to pull his friends out of their stupor.

"Wha – what do you mean?" Zach asked.

"You know, that Warren's gone bad. We need to tell someone that there's a new villain on the loose, helping Barren Battle."

"Will." Layla said, staring at him as though she didn't quite recognize him. "Warren's out friend."

"Was our friend." Will said. "Now he's a villain!"

"He is _not _a villain Will!" Layla said sharply.

Will barked out a laugh, but didn't say anything. Of course he was a villain. He had told them, flat out. What more proof did they need? Last he'd checked, a confession was enough to convict.

"I never even thought Warren could pull off the whole 'bad boy' thing." Magenta said stoically, staring off into the distance. "I never thought he would have become an actual bad guy."

"Neither did I, but well, he kind of did." Will said. No one responded.

Did no one else see that he had betrayed them? Did no one else see that he was looking to fight them now? He could tell Barren Battle how to get into Sky High. He could tell Barren Battle about his parents. Warren had been over to his house innumerable times, he knew their address, their secret identities, their weapons of choice . . . if he told Battle, it would all be over.

"Maybe we should go looking for him again." Layla suggested. "Try to reason with him. I mean, he has to see sense sooner or later."

"We could . . ." Zach conceded, his eyes skittering everywhere.

"Doesn't that seem kind of dangerous though?" Ethan said hesitantly. "I mean, we'd basically have to go knocking on Barren Battle's front door to even find him."

"And like, do you remember the last time Warren was a bad guy? Back in freshman year? That was kind of scary dude."

"Warren is our friend!" Layla said, fire in her eyes. "And he needs us now! We have to do whatever we can for him!"

"I'm with you Layla," Magenta said in a calming tone, "But maybe there's nothing we really can do right now." Before Layla could interrupt, she quickly hurried along. "He seemed like he wanted to just be left alone right now. Maybe this is something he needs to figure out on his own."

It seemed to Will as if Warren had already figured it all out. He wanted to be a villain. End of story.

Abby still hadn't said anything. "It'll be okay." Layla reassured her quietly. "He'll come around. Warren's a good guy."

Will, pacing around the kitchen, finally exploded at this. "Oh my god!" He shouted, storming over. "No! No, Warren's _not _a good guy! He joined up with Barren Battle, and now he's helping him to take over the world! He is the opposite of the good guy!" He turned around, bringing his hands up and shaking his head, then leaned over to look Abby in the eyes. "Look! Get over him already! He's on the other side now! He ditched you! He ditched all of us!"

Abby just stared at him, with a gaze so cold that Will felt chills running up his spine despite the fact that she didn't seem to be using her powers. Then got up, turned around, and left. Will heard the faint sound of a door closing, but his attention was quickly taken up by Layla, who was wearing a horrified expression.

"Will!" She said, standing up. "How could you be so insensitive? Seriously? Abby is hurt, you can't just go around yelling at her!"

"But Layla!" Will protested. "Warren is a bad guy now! We have to fight him, we can't just sit around thinking about how he used to be so nice!"

"Will, he was your best friend." Layla said, deadly serious. "And I cannot believe that you would just turn on him so easily. That instead of trying to help him, your first thought is to destroy him? I thought friendship meant more to you than that." And with that, she turned around, and left through the same door.

"Layla –" Will said, starting to go after her, but the door had already closed. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. Was he the only one with any common sense?

"So." He heard a voice come from behind him. "Warren's your best friend, is he?" Will turned around tiredly to see Zach, staring down at his fidgeting hands.

"Yeah, I guess, I don't know." Will said, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. "It doesn't really matter anymore, since Warren became a villain!"

"Well, I mean, I just thought, that, you know, I was your best friend." Zach said to the floor.

Will stopped his ranting, really looking at Zach for the first time. "Oh, no, man, I didn't mean it like –"

"No, no it's cool." Zach said, brushing him off. "It's just, I was there for you, ya know? When Warren hated your guts and tried to kill you? I was there! And I just thought, I dunno, that you might have appreciated that a little more."

"No, Zach, I do, you are my friend!" Will said, but Zach had already left. He sighed, sitting down and putting his head in his hands. Did everyone hate him now, even though he was the one trying to save the earth?

"Not cool Will." Magenta said, standing over him, arms crossed. Will looked reluctantly up at her. "You need to treat your friends better than that if you expect them to stick around."

"She's right." Ethan piped up. "You can't save the world on your own Will."

"Yeah, well, that's kind of what I always do Ethan!" Will snapped, harsher than he had intended to. "It's always me stuck fighting the villains! I'm always the one who has to take them out!"

"That's not true." Said Ethan, still reasonably, unprovoked. "You need help Will. Why do you think they always gave a hero a sidekick? Why they always partner us up in Save the Citizen?"

"Yeah, well, just cause you have a partner doesn't mean you aren't still doing all the work."

"What?"

"Oh come on, honestly Ethan, what did you do in Save the Citizen? You would have been lost without me!"

"That's not true! I was the one who saved the citizen!"

"I let you do that!"

"Let me?" Ethan repeated in a deadpan, his voice numb with shock. "You know Will, I'm used to people underestimating me because of my powers. And I am well aware that Save the Citizen is not my strong suit. But I never thought I'd get it from my own friend." With that, Ethan left as well.

Only Magenta was left, and she was staring at Will with a look of utter disgust on her face. "Nice going Will." She said. "You've successfully managed to drive away all of your friends."

"I was just trying to make them understand," Will said, clenching his hands in frustration.

"Oh, they understand just fine." Magenta said. "They understand you're a jerk who treats his friends like garbage." And with that, she too turned around and left, leaving Will along in the room.

He groaned, slamming his hands on the table. Warren was the villain here, not him! Why couldn't they just understand . . .


	14. Chapter 14

He guessed that all kids thought their parents were invincible. But he _really _had. His parents had been Commander and Jetstream. Other kids dressed up as them for Halloween. Other kids thought their dads were strong cause they could pick them up? Well his dad was really strong, strong enough to pick up buildings. His parents had scrapbooks for all the times they had saved the world. They had never lost a battle. Ever. They always saved the world, and they had been up against some pretty stiff competition sometimes.

But all kids eventually realized that their parents weren't really invincible. And so had Will. Freshman year, he had been the one saving his parents. That was a first. For once, he had been the powerful one. But it wasn't a first he cared to repeat. He had seen his parents nearly killed. Although they had come out alright, it had been a close shave. It made him start to think about how many other close shaves his parents may have had, how many times it hadn't been a fantastic victory, but escaping by the skins of their noses with a healthy dose of luck. And now they were getting older, past their prime . . . and with their enemies, there was real danger.

Danger that Warren had just escalated.

He had trusted Warren implicitly, and now it looked like he was going to have to pay for it. And not just him; his parents. In going to Battle, Warren may as well have signed his parents' death warrants. With the things he knew – well, from what he had gathered from the scattered recounts of past glory days, the last battle with Battle had been no piece of cake. With Warren's knowledge – well, it might be the edge Battle needed.

He'd have thought his friends would have understood this. He'd have thought they would have been shocked and horrified at Warren's betrayal as well. But apparently they weren't.

But no matter what he or they thought, he had already lost one good friend today, and he didn't care to lose another. Will really didn't want to fight with Layla anymore, so he ran to catch up with her, his mind made up to make peace.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey Will." She said, glancing over at him.

"Look, Layla." He started. "About what happened,"

"It's okay Will." She cut him off. "I know, things are pretty tense for you right now, and it must be hard losing your best friend. I know you didn't mean it."

"Uh, no." Will said, frowning. "No, I meant exactly what I said."

"What?" Layla asked, her voice lowering dangerously.

"Warren's a villain now." Will protested. "I'm not trying to be mean, it's just a fact."

"He's not a villain, he's your friend!" Layla said. "I cannot believe we're having this same conversation again –"

"Look, Layla, I know he was your friend too," Will said, trying to reason with her. "But you have to accept it. He switched sides. I know it must hurt, it hurts all of us, but denying it won't change it."

"I'm not the one in denial Will, you are." Layla argued. "You're mad at Warren for not telling you any of this, for going to a villain. You think you're losing a friend, so you're trying to deny it by saying that it's all Warren's fault.

"Well, it kind of is all his fault." Will pointed out.

"But Will, it's not like Warren just joined a villain. He went to his father. Battle's his dad Will. Can't you see how hard this must be for Warren? Can you really blame him?"

"Uh, yeah I can!" Will said frankly. "Because he chose to go to his dad, even though he knows full well that he's a murdering psychopath! He's going to sell all of us out!"

"You don't know that he's going to do that!"

"Well, I doubt he's trading cooking recipes with him!"

"Will, have you ever thought that maybe he just wants to know his dad? It's not as easy for him as it is for you!"

"And have you ever thought that maybe everyone isn't a good person! Warren's a villain. He told us himself. He never was a hero."

Layla took a step backwards as though he had hit her. "He's more of a hero than you are Will." She said scathingly. "Because he actually cared for his friends and family. He always stood by them."

She turned around and walked off, feet sloshing through the rain.

"If he always stands by you, where is he now then?" Will called out after her. He went ignored. "Where is anyone now?" He muttered to himself, angrily turning around and kicking his foot through a puddle.

* * *

><p>"He's being an arrogant butthead!" Layla seethed.<p>

"Layla!" Abby said, her mouth quirking at Layla's choice of insult.

"It's true though!" Layla said, arresting her pacing about the room to sit on her bed and face Abby. "He's just completely abandoning all of his friends! It's like his whole friendship with Warren meant absolutely nothing! Just gone, one wrong move and he's forgotten every good thing Warren's ever done!"

"He was pretty harsh." Abby agreed. "But are you sure this is really about Warren?"

"Yes!" Layla insisted instantaneously. "Well," she amended a moment afterwards as Abby simply looked at her. "Maybe not entirely. It's just – I don't know, I guess I just maybe feel like he's been doing the same thing to me." She sighed, hugging a pillow to her. "He's pushing me away . . . it's like Rena is the only one he cares about."

"Maybe you guys needed a little break." Abby suggested.

Layla shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. After our first fight, I thought we would just work through it, just a bump in the road, you know? But then, after what happened with Warren, I don't think I even want to try to patch it up." She trailed off, shaking her head. "He was his best friend. He was my best friend." She turned to Abby, as if just really seeing her. "And he was your boyfriend. How are _you_ doing with all of it?"

Abby shrugged, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. "It was a shock." She admitted. "I wasn't expecting it all. So it kind of makes me wonder . . . did I really know him? I thought I did. But I never thought he'd do that . . ." She shook her head. "It's just so weird." Abby continued, twisting a strand of her hair around her finger and staring down at her feet. "Just a few weeks ago we were applying to be partners together, designing coordinating costumes, trying to come up with Super names. I mean, we were applying to be partners together! That's kind of a huge deal. You can't just go around changing partners whenever you want. It was a big step for us. We were making a commitment. I thought it meant something. I thought it meant we were something. I guess not." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Mr. Medulla even told me . . . he said that me and Warren were practically a shoo in to be partners, that we were perfectly matched, power-wise. We were going to graduate and start saving the world together. I thought we had it all planned out."

"I guess nothing can always go as planned." Layla said.

"I guess. But it would be nice if it did, for once."

Layla laughed. "That would be nice."

Abby shook her head. "We have awful taste in boyfriends."

"Hey, at least you guys have boyfriends." Magenta said, poking her head around the door.

"Hey," Layla and Abby said, scooting over on the bed to make room for her. She plopped down gloomily.

"What's wrong?" Layla asked. "Is it –"

"Zach." Magenta said. "I just spend two hours today talking with him. _Two hours_. And he still didn't manage to spit it out."

"I'm sorry." Layla said sympathetically.

"I am too." Magenta said wryly. "I'm starting to give up hope that he'll ever do it."

They gave a sigh in unison. Layla and Abby looked at one another over Magenta's sinking shoulders.

"Well, you can join our pity party." Layla said, patting her on the back.

"Great." Magenta said. "Will there be ice cream?"

"Wouldn't be complete without it."

Magenta nodded.

"Boys suck." She commented dully. They all nodded.

"They do."

Several minutes later, they settled back in Layla's room, bowls of ice cream in hand.

"So, still nothing from Zach?" Layla asked.

"Nothing." Magenta repeated glumly. She stared pensively at her bowl for a minute or two. "Okay, I have to ask." She said suddenly, looking up. "Am I crazy? Am I some stupid, lovesick girl? Am I just over-interpreting, making all this stuff up? Does Zach not really like me?"

"No!' Layla protested immediately. "Everyone can see he's totally into you."

"If he's so totally into me, then how come he hasn't made a move yet?"

"Maybe you need to make the first move." Abby suggested. "Zach can be kind of insecure."

"We don't need to make the first move," Magenta said. "We're both completely ready to move on from friendship. Or at least, I thought we both were. What I need is just for him to ask me out!"

"Maybe he just needs time." Layla said.

"I've given him two years, how much more does he need?" Magenta grumbled. "Enough about me. Let's hear your sob story Layla."

Layla obliged, and Magenta and Abby made all the right comments, even though they had heard this rant several times before. She could likely have gushed on for hours, but Magenta cut her short. This story was old news, she was running out of ice cream, and wanted to hear Abby's story before it all was melted.

"Well?" She prodded. "You? Warren?"

"He ditched me for his dad." Abby said, prodding her mushy ice cream with her spoon, staring at it moodily. "That's pretty much it."

"It must suck." Magenta said plainly. "Especially since it's now, just when you guys were getting pretty serious. I mean, you guys just decided you were a couple a few months ago."

"What are you talking about?" Layla asked. "They've been a couple for ages!"

"You've called them a couple for ages." Magenta pointed out. "They only started referring to themselves as a couple a while ago." Abby nodded as they looked at one another.

"Yeah. I mean, we've been . . . you know, we've been friends, friends who hang out, and well, sometimes. . . go out . . ."

" . . . and make out . . ." Layla continued with a slight smile, which Abby mirrored at her comment.

". . . yes . . ."

". . . and put out?" Magenta asked.

"Magenta!" Layla yelped.

Abby blushed slightly. "I'm not going there." She said flatly.

"Magenta!" Layla said again, and then very primly, "Maybe we should just stop talking about it."

"Yeah. After all, none of us is putting out now." Abby said.


	15. Chapter 15

Will walked along the now familiar path to Rena's house. She was pretty much the only person who he could talk to anymore without the subject of Warren coming up. That was one reason why he was now spending more and more time with her.

And, frankly, he was beginning to see her in a different light. After having broken up with Layla, who had made it quite clear that she didn't appreciate him dropping her and everyone else at 'every pretty face', he was beginning to wonder if maybe . . . you know, if Rena was interested in him . . . not that he was interested in her, not really . . . but, if she was interested . . . well, it was an interesting thought at least.

He tried to shove these thoughts out of his mind as he reached Rena's house, ringing the doorbell.

"She's not going to answer." A voice creaked from behind him. Will shipped around, finding an incredibly old lady standing there one the sidewalk, regarding him intensely.

"What?" Will asked.

"The girl. Rena." The old woman croaked. "She's not there."

"How do you know?"

"Because." The old woman said matter-of-factly. "I was there when she left that message on your phone." She nodded towards Will's pocket.

Will slowly reached for his phone, still staring at this woman warily. Sure enough, he did have a voicemail. He brought the phone to his ear, listening to it.

"Will," Came a panicky voice. Will's stomach lurched. It' was Rena. How had she known? "I don't have much time –" There was a large crash in the background, and what sounded like someone cackling. "I know they're going to try to use me against you again – but don't come, it's just going to be another trap –" There was another crash, closer this time, and Rena gave a scream. "I have to go, be careful Will! They're looking for you t –" The message cut off abruptly. "End of new messages." A computerized voice broke in.

Will lowered his phone slowly, eyeing the old lady again. She was looking right back at him with a knowing smile.

"How do you know all this?" Will asked slowly.

"Because." She replied. "I'm the one who kidnapped her."

Will just stared at her for a minute. He was a little frightened of her, but still, she looked like she would have trouble just making it down the street. How could she have possibly kidnapped anybody?

"You . . . kidnapped Rena." Will repeated slowly. He wondered if this lady were off her rocker slightly. But then again, she did seem to know an awful lot . . .

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To get to you, of course. The famous Will Stronghold. I knew of course that you'd come running as soon as you heard about poor Rena. And I've been waiting to meet you for a very long time."

"Where is she?" Will asked, resisting the urge to back away from this strange old woman.

"That's of no importance now, dear." She said. "I'll let her go, once I'm through with you . . . maybe."

"Tell me where she is!" Will growled, charging towards her. He didn't care anymore that she looked like a helpless little old lady, she was obviously far from it, and she was beginning to freak him out.

She began to cackle as he neared her. "Oh, I have been looking forward to this." It was as though as sudden wind had whipped around them, then . . . her hair . . . began to . . . grow?

Will stumbled backwards in surprise. Her grey hair was lengthening, it had to be at least as twice as long as she was now, and was lifting into the air, as if drawn up by invisible puppet strings. They curled ominously about her head, twisting and writhing as if she were some ancient Medusa.

Okay, Will thought, trying to steady himself. It's just . . . hair. Only long hair. Only a sidekick power. It wasn't so much her power that he was worried about, more the woman herself. She was creeping Will out.

"Yes, dearie." She said. "I'm the great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Rapunzel, you see. Unusually strong hair seems to run in out family."

"Fascinating." Will uttered faintly. Just as the word escaped his lips, three coils shot towards him. He tried to fly up out of their reach, but one still nabbed him by the ankle, twisting fiercely about it and dragging him back to Earth. The others were swift to encircle him as well, and then he was reeled in, closer and closer to her mad face, glinting eyes . . .

Will began to struggled frantically, desperate just to get away from her. He managed to break free, jetting up sixty feet into the air, now peering down on her. She gazed back up at him, still smiling. That smile, that was what unnerved Will the most.

The coils of hair sank back down to the ground, beginning to form a sort of staircase, which she mounted, climbing up to Will.

"Now now, do stop running Willy." She crooned.

Will shot downwards, zooming through her ladder of hair and breaking it, tumbling her back to the ground.

"Come now, William." She tutted, hardly shaken by her fall, watching as Will zoomed sideways, twisted and turned, trying to avoid the lengths of hair that were racing after him. "You're never going to find her running around in circles like that."

She's right, Will realized. Suddenly, he stopped trying to avoid her masses of hair. He waited an instant for them to catch up with him, then grabbed several handfuls, tugging at the roughly. He continued to pull on them, despite the fact that several were coiling around him now, trying to tighten, but luckily his super strength prevented the from suffocating him or breaking any bones. He continued to pull, handful after handful, until finally she ran out of hair, and Will was face to face with the old lady.

"Where is she?" Will asked roughly. "Tell me, or I'll drop you!" He threatened, flying even a bit higher.

The woman sighed regretfully, as though she had been rather expecting that this would happen but had wished it wouldn't. "She's in the back shed."

Will flew back to Earth, quickly depositing her back on the sidewalk, then zooming around to the back of the house.

"Stupid boy." The old woman said, standing up and brushing herself off as her hair shrank back to a normal length. "Didn't even check to see if I was telling the truth first . . ."

Satisfied with her appearance, she set off back down the street and quickly disappeared from sight.

* * *

><p>Will whipped around the side of the house, eyes targeting on the shed. He rammed against the door, it splintered, breaking down, and he burst inside. Will let out a sigh of relief, and settled back down to the ground.<p>

"Will!" Rena said, rushing over to him and flinging her arms around him. "I'm so sorry Will! That old lady just came, and she locked me in the shed, and I tried to warn you, but I couldn't do anything! I'm so sorry!" She looked up at him with big, watery eyes.

"Hey, it's not your fault!" Will protested.

"Yes it is." Rena insisted. "If it weren't for me being kidnapped, you would never have had to fight that lady. You would have never been in danger." She hung her head sorrowfully.

Will felt a pang in his chest. "Hey." He said, lifting her chin. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I'm the one putting you in danger." He knew it was true as soon as he'd said it, though he'd never really thought of it before. Ever since he had started hanging out with Rena, she'd been kidnapped again and again. He was putting her in danger.

"What?" Rena asked, lifting her head.

"Villains keep on capturing you to get to me," Will explained, his heart sinking. Now that he knew what was going on, he also knew the implications of it. "They know you're my friend, and they know you don't have super powers." Will hung his head, wishing there was another way than what he was about to say. "We need to stop spending time together. For your own good. So that the villains will stop coming after you." He wasn't sure if he was justifying this to Rena or to himself.

"But," Rena said softly, blushing. "I don't want to stay away from you Will."

"I don't either." Will answered. "But there isn't any other way."

"None? There has to be something!" Rena said desperately.

Will shook his head. Rena sighed, seeming to collapse in on herself a little.

"Your super powers are . . . amazing." She said quietly, pressing a hand to Will's chest. "But, I guess I don't really like them anymore, since they're what's keeping us apart."

Will nodded gravely.

"As long as you're a super, we can never be together?"

Will nodded again. It was so unfair, he thought. He had all these super powers, but he couldn't get what he wanted?

"Then I guess this is goodbye." Rena said.

"I guess so." Will repeated.

"Then . . . goodbye, Will." Rena turned away and began walking back towards her house. Will stared glumly after her and his heart flew into his throat when she turned around.

"You'll call me, won't you?" She asked anxiously. "You'll tell me if – if anything changes?"

Will nodded fervently. "Definitely." He promised.

Rena nodded and gave a small smile, appearing slightly reassured. Then she walked back inside, the door swinging shut behind her.


	16. Chapter 16

Will flipped through his notes frantically during lunch, trying to absorb as much information as possible in the next half hour. Layla was right, the Mad Science test was going to be hard.

Okay, okay, focus, he thought to himself. Important compounds, what were the important compounds? Great, he didn't have much written down there. There was purgo potestas, that removed a super's powers. Okay, how could he remember that? Well, powers started with 'p', and so did purgo potestas, so Penny's Powers were Purged with Pur – wait.

Removed a super's powers. There was actually something out there that did that. There was something he could take that would get rid of his powers, turn him into a normal kid. And with no more powers, it would be fine for him to be with Rena. His mind whirled. He understood this, it wasn't exactly hard to understand, but then why was his head taking so long to process it. It was actually an option. He could hang out with Rena again. But . . . was that a price he was willing to pay? Rena? Or his powers? He loved his powers. He had spent over half his life wishing he had powers. Then again, now he knew that there were things more important that powers . . .

But really, he didn't know anything about this purgo potestas. Maybe he wouldn't even be able to get any. He knew one person who would have the answers he needed . . . except that person probably didn't want to even speak to him right now.

* * *

><p>Will poked his head around a bookshelf, and sure enough, there was Ethan at his favorite table in the library. He took a deep breath, then turned the corner into view.<p>

"Hi Ethan." He said, forcing a normal voice.

Ethan glanced up from the book he had been engrossed in. "Hello Will." He said in return.

Will stood awkwardly in front of him, shifting from foot to foot. "Uh, can I sit down?" he asked. Ethan nodded. "Thanks," Will said, taking a seat.

"Is there something you came to say?" Ethan asked, after a rather awkward silence had passed.

"Um, yeah, actually." Will said, hastily pulling out his Mad Science textbook. "So, I was studying for the Mad Science test, and I saw some stuff on purgo potestas. I was wondering if you could tell me more about it."

Ethan looked down at the black and white text scrolling across the page. "It removes a supers powers."

"How does it work?" Will asked.

"Well, it's a chemical compound." Ethan said. "Easiest to form as a liquid. It has to do with your genes, it impacts them. It targets the one that gives you your super powers, and renders it inactive, dormant, as it was before you had powers."

Will nodded, his eyes misting over. "Huh." He said. "What's in it? Like, how would you make it?"

"You mean the chemical equation, or physically?"

"Um, physically."

"I don't remember off the top of my head. I'm sure it's in the encyclopedia in Mr. Medulla's room thought, if you really want to know."

"Cool." Will said, sliding his textbook off the desk and back into his bag. "Thanks." He looked over his shoulder, beginning to rise from his seat, but then sank back down. "Um," He said, attempting to appear offhand. "Does it –hurt? To take it?"

"I can't say for certain," Ethan said, "Seeing as not many people, well, supers that is, have experience its effects, but I would suspect that one would hardly feel it at all. You may not even notice it had taken place until you tried to use your powers."

"Right." Will said, really standing up this time. "Thanks. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Sais Ethan, turning back to his book.

Will didn't leave yet, he just stood there for a second. He opened his mouth, as though about to say something more, but then abruptly stopped. Ethan was already absorbed in his notes anyway. The next time he looked up, Will had gone.

* * *

><p>Will sat at the kitchen table, flipping his pencil over and over again. He was trying to work on homework, but it wasn't going so well. Every question seemed to melt away in face of the real question that was overpowering his mind.<p>

What about the purgo potestas?

Could it be the answer to all his problems? Right now it just seemed to be the cause of them. It would almost have been easier if he didn't have the option – the option to be with Rena. The option to leave Sky High. The option to never be a super.

But it was an option, he thought, flipping his pencil over again. He had checked and double checked the encyclopedia as well as the Secret Sanctum. It would be ridiculously easy to make. Just scramble a few particles, take a gulp, and – zap. No more powers.

He flipped his pencil back. He'd get to see Rena again. He started smiling just at the thought. He felt as though he were going through withdrawal, unable to see her, to hear her voice, her laugh, see her dancing eyes . . . sometimes he thought having that again would be worth any price.

The other end of his pencil thumped against the table. But the price was so high. His powers. He wouldn't be able to fly anymore. He wouldn't have his super strength. He supposed he'd still be allowed to go to Sky High, but it wouldn't be nearly the same. His parents would be shocked and disappointed, their dream of the Stronghold Three shattered.

But the decision wasn't about them, it was about him. And did he really want to be a super? He wasn't even sure anymore. Rena was the most important thing to him right now. But his powers – would he regret it? Rena? Or his powers? Or Rena?

Will's pencil snapped in two. He glanced down, jolted out of his musings, realizing he was lucky it was the only the pencil he had snapped and not the entire table. He dropped it in the trash with a sigh and went to find another one.

His parents were sitting out in the living room, going over some real estate papers.

"Hey Will." His mom said, glancing up. "How's the homework coming?"

"Good." Will replied automatically as he rummaged through a drawer for a replacement writing utensil. He looked over at his parents. They were experienced supers. They were old veterans at saving the world. He paused, letting the drawer slowly slide shut on its own.

"Hey," He said, ambling over to stand near the couch. "Could I talk to you guys for a second?"

"Of course, honey." His mother said, instantly setting down her papers and sliding off her glasses.

His father stood at rapt attention as well. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Just, about being a super." Will started slowly. "I was just wondering, what you thought of it?"

"Well Will, there are risks to be sure, but it comes with the territory." His dad boomed. Will could tell that he was immensely glad this subject had been brought up, but he himself was a bit worried that his father was going to ramble on and he would never find out what he really wanted to know.

"I was more thinking of what you, specifically, thought of it." Will interjected quickly. "Like . . . if you ever regretted becoming a super."

His parents just stared at him blankly. "What?"

"I don't know," Will said. "Don't you ever just get tired of it? Wish the world would just stay saved for a little while? That villains wouldn't always be hunting us down?"

"It's not always easy, honey." His mom said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"We don't always know if it's going to work out. We've had some close shaves. But we've always managed to pull through."

"You don't ever get tired of it?" Will asked.

"Nope." His dad answered instantly. "It's the best job in the world, son. Everyone wants to be a superhero. Little kids dress up as us for Halloween. Hey, adults dress up as us for Halloween! Just last year, The Commander and Jetstream was the most popular couples costume!"

"Yeah, that's cool and all," Will said. "But still, haven't you ever wanted to do something else. Like, haven't you ever thought about really becoming your cover?"

"Sure, it can be tough sometimes, but if we don't save the world, who will?"

"Well, there are plenty of supers." Will pointed out. "What's one less?"

"You can't count on someone else to take care of your problems for you Will."

"It's a tough job, but it comes with the territory." his dad repeated. "The price of being a super is making some enemies."

"But –" Will started, wondering how he could bring this up without them suspecting anything. "What if we didn't have powers? Haven't you ever thought about what that would be like?"

"Well, of course. Technically, we don't have powers." Will's dad said, sliding his glasses back down onto his nose and giving his son a wink.

Will nodded and forced a grin. "But, really, I mean." He persisted.

"Will, nobody knows how it's decided who gets powers and who doesn't." His mom began. "But we do have powers. And we have a duty to use them for good. Even if it is dangerous. Even if it may be better for us to not be heroes, it wouldn't be better for the rest of the world. And the safety of the whole world is more important than the happiness of a few people." She smiled, clasping her husband's arm. "And besides," she said. "We don't have much to complain about, do we?"

"We certainly don't." The commander replied, smiling down at her.

"So," Will said slowly, gazing at his parents although his mind was far off. You wouldn't give up being a super – a hero? Even if you could?"

"Not for the world."


	17. Chapter 17

"Warren, if all you're doing is moping around the lair, you might as well make yourself useful." Battle chided, his hands flying across the keyboard as he avidly watched the images flashing across the many screens. "You're making the whole room gloomy!"

"Isn't it supposed to be gloomy?" Warren asked sullenly. His mom had just called again. He hadn't answered, again. He didn't think he could bear the shame of facing her now. First she had lost her husband, then her powers, now her son? He didn't even want to think what she must think of him right now. "It is an evil lair, right?"

"Oh, cheer up." Battle replied to Warren's snark. "Soon we're going to have the whole world under our thumbs. And, we'll have gotten rid of our arch enemies."

"But I don't have an arch enemy." Warren pointed out.

"Yes you do. Will Stronghold."

* * *

><p>Will had made up his mind. He had to keep his powers. He would love to be able to spend time with Rena, but he couldn't sacrifice part of himself to make that happen. His powers made him who he was. He couldn't just get rid of them. After all, if he did, who would save the world? He didn't have a hope of stopping Warren as a normal kid.<p>

Now there was only one thing left to do. Tell Rena. Will was, quite frankly, dreading it. How was he supposed to tell her that he had chosen to never see her again? But he owed it to her, to tell her the full story. He owed it to her to tell her the truth, and to say a final goodbye. He had picked up the phone several times to call her already, but just couldn't seem to gather the courage to finish dialing her number. But that problem was soon solved for him, to his dismay. Rena called him.

"Hello?" He said, picking up reluctantly. This was it . . .

"Hey Will." Rena said cheerily. "It's me, Rena. I know, I know we aren't really supposed to be talking . . . but I just couldn't stand it any more."

Will was silent. How was he supposed the respond to that, that he could stand it, and planned on standing it for the rest of his life?

He'd just have to do it, Will told himself firmly. Like ripping off a bandage. Do it quickly, and it might not hurt as much.

"Rena," he said slowly. "I really miss talking to you too. Really, I do. But . . . I have some news."

"Well," Rena said. "I actually have some news too."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. But, do you think we could meet up to talk about it? I know," She said quickly, "That we aren't supposed to meet, but just one time couldn't hurt, could it? We'll be careful."

Well, it couldn't hurt, Will thought. What was the difference between telling her over the phone versus in person?

"All right." Will said. "Where do we meet?"

* * *

><p>Kind of a weird place to meet, Will thought, walking into the empty warehouse. Maybe she'd thought it'd be safer? Or maybe it was just more convenient for her, she said her parents owned it or something?<p>

"Hello?" He called out, walking through the stacks of crates. "Rena?"

"Hey Will!" Rena called out in response, popping out from behind a corner. "Over here!"

Will strolled over to where Rena was. "Hi."

"Hi. Coke?" She asked, offering out a bottle.

"Sure." Will said, taking it and a long sip. He wasn't too eager to get into the serious conversation.

"So," Rena said, leaning back against a crate. "What was your news you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh, uh, . . ." Will stammered, taking another gulp of Coke to buy himself some time. "We can talk about that later, it's not that important. So, what's new with you?"

"Nothing much." Rena said. "I've missed you."

"Yeah." Will said. "I've missed you too." He had to quickly take another drink to avoid looking at her. He just couldn't meet her eyes. He had to tell her. He had to. But how could he? "Why don't you go first?" He suggested. "You said you had news too, right?"

"Very true." Rena said, looking steadily at Will.

The room seemed to suddenly explode, it all happened in an instant. Somehow, huge goons had managed to pop up everywhere, surrounding them in seconds, all with guns trained on the pair.

"Rena, get behind me!" Will shouted, immediately jumping into action.

"Now why would I do that?" Rena asked. Will turned to her in surprise. She didn't seem fazed by this at all, and she wasn't acting at all like her usual self. "They might hit me accidentally. Their aim isn't too good you know."

Will just stared at her, his mouth dropping open. What was going on? What had happened to her?

Oh well, he would worry about what was wrong with Rena later, right now he had to concentrate on the men with the guns. He pushed off from the ground, flying into the air – no. He didn't. He didn't take off. Will jumped into the air again, with the same result. He simply fell back to his feet. Will looked around wildly in confusion, looking for the source of this inhabitation. He desperately tried to fling himself into the air again. He fell back to the ground pitifully, his sneakers landing with a hard slap against the concrete.

"What's going on?" He demanded. "Why can't I fly?"

"So glad you asked that Will." Rena purred. "Your powers have disappeared. That's what has happened. You're no longer a super, just a regular old boy."

Will stared at her in astonishment. This couldn't be Rena. And if it weren't for the fact that he was suddenly no longer able to fly, he would have said she was lying too.

"That's impossible." Will said. "Powers don't just suddenly 'disappear'!"

"Well, they do if one happens to ingest some purgo potestas." Rena said casually.

"How do you know about that?" Will demanded.

"I know quite a bit Will."

"Well, then you should know that I was coming here to tell you that I decided not to take any of the stuff!"

"Unfortunately, that wasn't up to you." Rena said, gesturing to the Coke bottle that Will had dropped to the floor during the excitement. Will stared at it. She couldn't be serious.

"You spiked my drink?" He asked incredulously.

"It was only the back up plan." Rena admitted. "We were rather hoping that you'd choose to take it on your own. But, this worked just as well. It all comes to the same result anyway; you powerless."

"But, Rena, what – why – you and me – but –"

"Oh Will, woefully inarticulate as always. There's been no confusion, no sudden change of heart. This has been the plan all along. And I'm sure you can guess who set it up."

". . . You?" Will guessed.

Rena sighed exasperatedly. "No Will. I really am just a normal girl, that's one thing we didn't lie about. No. I was simply a very well paid cog in a machine designed by another. I was paid to begin a friendship with you, and then once it was cemented, to be 'kidnapped' as many times as was necessary for you to realize that your powers were putting me in danger. And look how nicely it's all worked out. I wouldn't be surprised it I got a bonus."

Will stared at her. Layla had been right, he though dumbly. All along . . . Rena had just been playing him.

"So, come on now Will, think. Who would want you powerless?"

Well besides her . . . and Royal Pain . . . and Speed and Lash . . . and Penny . . . and probably Layla . . . and Suzy and Sam . . . probably Warren now too . . . oh, and that sophomore whose goldfish he'd accidentally stepped on . . . but then another name floated to the top.

"Barren Battle."

"Bingo!" Rena said. "Well boys, take him to the boss." The men with the guns moved in closer, but Rena paused for a moment. "You know Will, even though I was just faking our whole relationship, I still think you are a pretty nice guy. I'm sorry it all happened like this." Then she turned around and left without a second glance.

Well, being a nice guy wasn't going to help him now. Without his powers, he was just one teenage boy against at least twenty huge muscles with guns. He didn't have a chance.


	18. Chapter 18

"Really? Dude, what'd he say?" Zach asked, his excitement and curiosity brimming over the edges despite his best efforts to hold it in.

"He wanted to know about purgo potestas, for the Mad Science test I guess. That's pretty much it. We didn't talk very long."

"Well, uh, did he say anything about me?"

"No. Sorry Zach."

"Oh, dude, no, I don't care. Not at all. Nope, couldn't care less. I'm glad, in fact! He'd better not've said anything about me!"

"Don't worry about him Zach. If he wants to hang out with Rena instead of us, fine. It's his choice. Our well being and happiness doesn't depend on his friendship."

"Yeah. Who cares if he wants to hang out with some normal chick who can't even change shape. What does he see in her anyway? There's nothing special about her! She's not super!"

"I'm sure she's still perfectly nice." Ethan conceded.

"Well, maybe." Zach muttered, unwilling to relent. He tapped his pencil anxiously against the table, staring off across the room as Ethan took diligent notes out of the textbook.

"You know, Ethan –"

"For the last time Zach, we can't play The Game, it's not an actual game."

"Aw man! Thanks a lot Ethan, now I lost The Game!"

"Well, I lost too, so we're even."

"Great, just, great, that's fantastic. I was doing so well! And I wasn't even going to say anything about that!"

"Well, then what were you going to say?"

"Well . . . nah, never mind." Zach said, waving a hand, his anger over loosing The Game dissipating.

"No, go ahead Zach."

"It's just . . ." He said slowly. "Well, I mean, Will's been hanging around Rena a lot, and now he's asking around about purgo potestas . . . it's just . . . well, it sort of seems that . . ."

"Seems like what?" Ethan asked, patiently waiting for Zach to piece his thoughts together and put them into words.

"Well . . . it sort of seems like he doesn't really want his powers." Zach said slowly, almost incredulously, as though he couldn't believe they were actually coming out of his mouth. "Almost as though . . . he wanted to get rid of them."

Ethan silently mulled over this new idea as Zach watched him anxiously. This wasn't one of his usual conspiracy theories. It wasn't too ridiculous, actually quite plausible. Will wasn't too happy with his powers at the moment. He didn't have many friends at Sky High since Warren had left, sure, while he was friendly with everyone, he didn't seem to be really close to anyone since his fight with basically all of his good friends. And his powers were keeping him away from Rena, the only person he seemed to really want to hang out with right now.

"Wha – What do you think?" Zach asked nervously.

"It's possible." Ethan said. "He might be thinking that. There's no way to really tell for sure."

"You don't think he'd actually do it, do you?"

"I don't know. He might, if he really thought it was what he wanted."

"But, even if he wanted to, he still probably wouldn't be able to get any, right?"

"Well, actually, purgo potestas isn't too difficult of a compound to make. Of course it's outlawed, but with all his parents' supplies, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to make."

Zach gaped, open-mouthed in horror. "He could be making it right now! He could – he could – he could already by powerless! Be normal!"

"Zach, calm down. We could just be jumping to conclusions, maybe he isn't even considering it at all."

"But what if it is! We have to stop him!"

"I guess we should at least check."

* * *

><p>Zach reached up to ring the Stronghold's door bell, but before he had a chance to press the button, the door swung open of its own accord.<p>

"Zach!" Boomed the Commander. "Great to see you."

"Good to see you too sir." Zach responded promptly. "May we come in? We want to talk to Will." Ethan nodded fervently behind him.

"Sorry boys," The Commander started.

"Honey, what are you doing, we have to go!" Jetstream said worriedly, coming up behind him. "Oh, hello Ethan, Zach."

"Hello Mrs. Stronghold, er, Jetstream, ma'am."

"I was just telling them that Will isn't home right now." The Commander explained.

"Oh yes, he went out a while ago, meeting with Rena." The Jetstream said, stepping outside and locking the door behind her. "Sorry to leave in such a rush, but we really have to be going!"

"Tip off on Battle." The Commander explained importantly. "Heard he's off in Australia. This could be the big one."

"Australia?" Ethan asked.

"So long, boys!" Jetstream called out, lifting up the Commander and taking off. The Commander saluted them, and in seconds they were out of sight.

* * *

><p>"So he's with Rena." Zach said. "That's not good. You don't think he's already taken it, do you?"<p>

"We'd better hope not. Who knows what could happen to him with Barren Battle loose without them."

"Well then, man, what are we gonna do?"

"We have to find him first."

"How are we gonna do that? Will can fly – well, at least, hopefully he still can, so he could be anywhere?"

"Relax Zach, he's probably just out somewhere with Rena."

"That's another bad sign though! She's normal too! It's gonna make him want it more!"

"Not necessarily, we don't know for sure."

"You know, I think we're going to need some more help."

"Will doesn't have many friends right now. Who would you suggest?"

"Hey." Magenta pulled open the door, kicking her dog, who was barking wildly, out of the way to let them in. "What do you boys want?"

"Hi Magenta, can we come in, we have something important to tell you." Zach spat out very quickly, his hands shoved into his pockets.

"You're already inside." Magenta pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, right." Zach said sheepishly, staring down at his shifting feet.

"Regardless of that, we still do really need to talk to you Magenta." Ethan said seriously.

"Okay." She said. "What's up?"

"It's about Will."

Magenta huffed, crossing her arms as she walked across the room, Ethan and Zach dutifully following her. "I am sick and tired of hearing about Will." She vented. "I really don't care what he does anymore."

"We know that Will hasn't been the best friend lately," Ethan hastily conceded, rushing to do damage control. "But he still is our friend. And we think he could be in real danger this time."

Magenta lost the dangerous tone and appeared to be listening, but her voice was still testy. "I think Will made it pretty clear last time that he didn't need any help in getting himself out of danger."

"You know that was all talk Magenta."

"Well maybe it's about time Will's realized it."

"Magenta, he could die." Ethan said seriously.

Magenta looked at him stonily. "If it's that serious," she said, "Then why are you here? Why didn't you go to his parents, or the police or something?"

"His parents are gone!" Zach exclaimed, eager to contribute some information he knew.

"And we don't have any solid proof to take to any authorities." Ethan explained. "It's just a hunch. But a very strong hunch."

Magenta exhaled loudly. She supposed they were right, though she didn't exactly like it. "Fine. What is this hunch, exactly?"

"We think Will might take purgo potestas!" Zach blurted out. "I thought of it." he added, quieter, sheepishly, slightly raising his hand.

"Purgo potestas?" Magenta repeated. "That's the stuff that takes away your powers, right?"

"Yes." Ethan confirmed.

"Why would you think that? Will loooves his powers. Will's all about his powers." Magenta said, pulling a face and waving her arms around. "He's big Mr. Will Stronghold, with his super strength and his super flight. It's the only thing that makes him popular, and he knows it. There's no way he'd give that up."

"Well, we think he may have had a change of heart." Ethan said.

"Why?"

"Well, you know Will has always had a lot of pressure from his parents to be a hero, and Will hasn't exactly been very happy at Sky High lately,"

"Funny, I hadn't noticed." Magenta said snidely. Ethan, well used to Magenta's interruptions, plowed on through.

"And then there's Rena, whom he appears to have a crush on, or at the very least appears to like better than any supers at the moment. Taking the purgo potestas and getting rid of his powers would be an easy out for him."

Magenta heaved a sigh. "Okay, so you may have a point. But then why are you here, why don't you just call him up and ask him about it?"

"He's not answering his phone,"

"And he's not at home, we checked!" Zack said. "And his parents have left! So they can't stop him!"

"Fine." Magenta said. "We can talk to him about it in school on Monday. And yes, I'll go with you, I'm assuming that's why you showed up."

"Monday?" Zach repeated.

"I don't know if we have that much time Magenta."

"Why not? If you're right, then he must have been thinking about this for while, and if he hasn't taken it yet, then I don't think a day or two more will be too devastating."

"Actually, it could." Ethan argued. "It only takes a few seconds for the purgo potestas to take effect."

"But he has to actually get the purgo potestas first. Who knows how long that will take him."

"Not very long. The elements it's composed of are actually quite simple for such a strong compound. They just have to be combined a certain way, and what with the kind of equipment Will has access to, that should be no problem."

Magenta was silent for a minute. "So what, you want to go on a manhunt for him them? I mean, really, so there is maybe a cause for concern, but we don't really know anything for sure yet. I don't think we have to panic."

"Maybe we don't know for sure, but at the least we have substantial proof. And the consequences will be awfully big if we allow Will to take it. I just think we ought to find him and make sure he's okay."

"You really want to?" Magenta asked, leaning her elbows on the countertop. "He's not really even our friend anymore."

"He's been a bit of a jerk lately," Ethan said.

"A lot of one." Magenta muttered.

"But we're not jerks. And since we know about it,"

"Know about the possibility of it,"

"I think we have a responsibility to at least talk to him." Ethan finished.

Magenta shifted her head back and forth, chewing on her lip. "What do you think, Zach?" she asked at last.

Zach looked surprised that his opinion was being sought out. "Well – uh – I think that Will might need help, so we need to help him!"

Magenta shrugged, straightening up as if that settled it. "Fine. Not like I've got anything better to do. Let's go find Will."

"Really?" Zach asked, his face lighting up.

"Yeah. But I don't know how much we'll be able to do to change his mind."

"Maybe not us," Ethan said. "But Layla could."


	19. Chapter 19

"Hey guys!" Layla said brightly, flinging open the door. "Great to see you! Come in! You want something to eat?"

"Yes please!" Zach said instantly, prompting an elbow in the ribs from Magenta.

"Actually, Layla, we have something kind of important we'd like to talk to you about. And you probably aren't going to like it."

"Okay." Layla said hesitantly. "What is it?"

"It's about Will."

Her face instantly darkened. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about Will right now."

"We know Layla, and we wouldn't bring him up unless it was really important." Ethan assured her.

"Please, just hear us out. We think he might be in trouble."

Layla crossed her arms. "Will can handle himself you guys, he doesn't need our help. He doesn't want it either."

"But we think he does this time." Ethan continued rationally. "We think he may be considering taking purgo potestas."

"Getting rid of his powers?" Layla asked, her eyebrows drawing together in surprise. "No way – Will loves his powers."

"Maybe that used to be the case," Ethan conceded. "But you know better than anyone how much he likes Rena now. And it's because of his powers that he can't see her anymore."

A flash of hurt skimmed across Layla's face, and she said "I also know better than anyone that Will's not the type of guy who would give up something he loved just for some girl, even if he did like her."

"Layla," Zach said hesitantly. "I know you don't like Will and all right now, but I really think we still have to help him. Like, we're the only ones who know about this, and his parents' are off in Australia, and he doesn't really have any friends besides Rena and she's definitely not going to help him, and he's having a pretty rough time too. I think he needs our help, whether he knows it or not."

Layla opened her mouth, then closed it again, pursing her lips. "You really think he's going to take the purgo potestas?" she asked at last.

Ethan nodded. "Very high probability."

Layla heaved a deep sigh. "Fine. I suppose it's the least we can do."

"He just needs someone with a clear head to tell him he's being an idiot and not to do drugs." Magenta said rationally.

"Actually, it's not a drug at all –"

"Where is he now?" Layla asked.

"Out with Rena, his parents told us." Zach answered. Layla's face tightened.

"Oh. Are they going out now?" she asked, her voice polite but strained.

"Layla," Magenta said in a warning voice. "This really isn't the time."

"Sorry." Layla said, her face coloring. "Okay, we should get going. But I think we should call Abby first."

"Okay, sure." Ethan said, shrugging his shoulders. "But why?"

"Because she thinks Abby will be on her side about Will." Magenta said.

Layla's face flushed again, and she opened her mouth, ready to protest, but was cut off.

"Come on, we should go." Ethan said. "Who knows how much time we have."

* * *

><p>Mid way across the Atlantic, the Commander turned to look up at Jetstream. "Do you get the feeling we're missing something?" He asked her.<p>

She looked worried. "No, I don't think so," She said. "We didn't leave the super sonic truthloficcer, did we?"

"Nope, nope, I've got that right here." The Commander said.

They were both quiet for a minute.

"Will?" The Commander suggested next. "Was it something to do with Will?"

"Maybe . . ." Jetstream said slowly.

"Dinner? Did we remember to leave something for him?"

"No, I mean, yes, I put out two lasagnas for him, and there's pizza in the fridge."

Another few moments passed in thoughtful meditation.

"The plants!" Jetstream said suddenly. "Who's going to water the plants! Oh, we should have asked those two nice boys to do it!"

"That's it, the plants!" The Commander said. "Oh well. Too late now."

* * *

><p>While they may have known that Will was out with Rena, that was really all they knew. That didn't narrow down the places he could be very much.<p>

After searching for nearly twenty minutes, sometime during the middle of which Abby had shown up, they could narrow it down somewhat. He wasn't at the gym. He wasn't in town center. He wasn't in any surrounding shops. No one there had seen him. He wasn't in the park. He wasn't at Rena's house. Rena's parents weren't at all willing to tell a shady group of kids where their daughter had gone. In short, they were stumped.

"Maybe they went back to Will's house while we were out looking?" Zach suggested.

"Maybe we should just go back to his house and wait anyway," Magenta said. "I mean, if he's out with Rena, it's pretty unlikely that he's taking the purgo potestas, right?"

"If only his parents still put tracking devices in his shoes." Layla said with a sigh.

"What?" Ethan asked, his ears perking up. "Tracking devices?"

"Oh, yeah." Layla said, waving a hand. "But, they stopped doing that ages ago."

"Wait." Ethan said. "Explain that to me."

"Well, there's not much to it. Will used to wander around a lot when he was a kid, so his parents put little tracking devices in the soles of all his shoes. That way he always had one on him, so whenever he went anywhere, they could see where, and go and get him if he got lost or something."

"When was this?"

"When we were in elementary school."

"Do you know more specifically? How many years, when did they stop?"

"Um, I think they started when he started walking, and stopped around, I don't know, third grade?"

"It could work," Ethan muttered to himself. "Maybe . . ."

"What are you talking about?" Magenta asked, staring at him, utterly lost.

"Okay," Ethan said. "I'll explain everything, just one more question – how long has Will lived here?"

"All his life." Layla answered. "So – is this going to help us?"

"I hope so. Will must have worn those tracking devices around this town for several years. I just hope it hasn't been too long . . ."

"Could you bother explaining?" Magenta asked icily.

"Yes, yes, of course." Ethan said, pushing his glasses up. "I believe that we could safely assume that the tracking devices operated with electromagnetic waves, hyped with radiation."

"Radiation?" Layla interrupted. "Are you sure? That doesn't sound safe at all."

"Right, but this is the Strongholds we're talking about, remember. Supers have a much higher tolerance for radiation, and this would have made it much harder for anyone else to intercept the signal. But still, the radiation should have left an imprint on his feet, if he was wearing shoes with them in them all the time for several years. If I'm right, Will may still be leaving small traces of radium wherever he goes. It probably wouldn't last very long, a day at most, but that's all we would need to see where he's been."

"But, maybe radium wouldn't affect Will, but it sure would affect everyone else. If he was leaving bits of it wherever he went, don't you think someone would have noticed?" Magenta asked.

"They would only be very, very, tiny amounts, far too little to have any impact on anybody." Ethan explained.

"So, but how are we going to be able to find all those tiny bits of radium?" Zach asked.

"That's the difficult part." Ethan said. "However, all we need to do is make it temporarily visible. Radium does glow naturally in some states, so if we could just convert it to such state –"

"But how will you do that without even knowing where it is?" Magenta asked.

"Well," Ethan said, pulling out his cellphone. "We're lucky we have Zach. I think with some of the programming I have on my phone, if Zach could channel some of his energy into it, we may end up with a tool that would show us where Will's been recently."

He fiddled with his phone for several seconds, then handed it off to Zach, who looked at it, turning it over hesitantly.

"Uh . . . what am I supposed to do with it?"

"Just glow." Ethan said patiently. "Use your powers. The phone will do the rest. I hope."

"Cool. Right. Just glow. Got it. That's what I'm good at. I'm the glowster." He closed his eyes, shaking out his arms, then swiftly brought them together in a clap. It was difficult to tell in broad daylight whether he had succeeded or not, but from his wide grin they assumed he had.

"Great job Zach." Ethan said. "Now, just wave the phone over the ground, and we'll see if it works."

"How will we know?" Layla asked.

"Well," Ethan said, scanning the ground. "Pretty much if we see spots of glowing radium, it works."

"Well, what if it works and we're just scanning in the wrong spot?" she persisted. "And what if Will got in a car, or flew, or –"

"Look! Look!" Zach yelped, pointing excitedly to the ground.

The girls all stared at the ground, then back up at the dancing Zach, nonplussed. Ethan, however, hurried over next to him and peered down at the screen.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "It works!"

They all moved to huddle around the screen, and sure enough, there was an exact image of the ground below them, with a faint glowing splotch on it.

"You're a genius, Ethan." Said Magenta wryly.

"Okay," Layla said. "Now what?"

"Now we follow the funny green glowy patches!" Zach exclaimed excitedly.

"But we don't know where the next one is." Layla pointed out. "Or even if we're following them in the right direction."

"Layla." Magenta said, exasperated. "Do you want to find Will or not?"

"I –" Layla turned a shade of bright red. "Of course I do! I'm just pointing it out! It is a problem!"

"Found another one!" Zach shouted excitedly, a few meters away, eliciting some strange looks from passers-by.

Magenta gave Layla a look. "Well, they could have been problems." Layla said defensively.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is the right place?" Layla asked, staring up at the large warehouse.<p>

"It's where the radium patches led to," Ethan replied, though he too was looking skeptical.

"Is there someone else wandering around Marxville with tracking devices in their shoes?" Magenta asked.

"Highly unlikely," Ethan muttered, now scanning up and down the street.

Magenta grumbled "I realize that." Sarcastically, but Ethan hardly seemed to hear her.

"Come on." He said, taking a few steps towards the door. "I know it seems unlikely, but apparently Will went in here." Zach trotted after him, and the girls slowly followed along behind.

The unlocked door opened easily, and they all walked inside. Dusty light filtered in through the high windows, revealing long rows of boxes and crates, holding who knew what. It appeared exactly the same inside as it had been without – eerily creepy, and completely deserted.

"Hello!" Zach called out. "Will! You there, dude?"

His words echoed loudly, reverberating off the walls. No one responded.

"Are the radium spots in here too, Zach?" Magenta asked.

Zach consulted the phone, revealing many of the glowing spots on the floor as he walked around, holding the beaming cellphone before him.

"He must have been here." Ethan repeated. "All the evidence points towards it." No one acknowledged him, but he appeared to have been speaking mostly to himself anyways. Zach was continuing to wander around in circles, following the glowing splotches.

"Well now what?" Abby asked softly.

Magenta seconded this. "Even if he was here, he's not anymore. Let's keep following the spots."

"But that's it," Ethan said, watching Zach stumble about the warehouse, his legs tangling themselves as he attempted to find the next glowing patch in succession. "The radium spots went into the warehouse, but not back out. Will didn't leave – at least not on foot."

"Then maybe he flew out, or met Rena in her car here or something." Layla said, unable to completely keep her tone level at Rena's name.

"Perhaps." Ethan conceded, though he did not seem to believe it.

"Hey guys!" Zach shouted out. He had disappeared a few rows over. "The trail ends over here!"

They dutily followed his voice, and found him staring at a small clearing in the boxes, staring forlornly at the phone. "There aren't any more." He said. "Now what?"

There was certainly no sign of Will, as they looked around.

"Why did he come here in the first place?" Layla wondered aloud. No one had an answer. Ethan crouched down, looking at a coke can lying near their feet. Zach wandered around some more with the phone, apparently unable to keep still, and Magenta sighed, crossing her arms while her eyes followed him about the warehouse.

A harsh buzzing interrupted the eerie stillness of the room, and everyone jumped. Layla hastily pulled her phone out of her pocket, and gasped.

"It's Will." She said, staring at the screen. She put it on speaker, and they all hastily gathered around her.

"Will?" she said hesitantly. Zach was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, apparently hard pressed to keep himself from shouting out to Will, but Magenta put a hand on his arm and he was able to maintain his silence. "Will? Where are you?"

Will's voice didn't come, but another's crackling distantly out of the phone.

_" – yes, see on the screen?"_

They all looked at one another. It wasn't Will, that was definite, but at the same time, it sounded familiar.

_ "What? But I didn't even dial a number."_

Another voice now, unrecognizable.

_ "You didn't have to." _

"Warren!" Layla suddenly exclaimed in a loud whisper. The others quickly hushed her, listening intently to this conversation.

"_It was probably on speed dial. Here, just let me."_

_ "I can hack security systems in my sleep, I think I can handle a phone – even though this doesn't even look like a phone."_

_ "They've changed a bit since you went to jail – no, just touch the screen. No, the screen. Just tap it – no, just press the screen."_

_ "What – where?"_

_ "Anywhere, it doesn't matter. Just give it to me. Why didn't you just short-wire it?"_

_ "We might still be able to use it, besides,"_

There was a rustling of static and then a dull thud as the line went dead, and the silence stretched and expanded filling the entire room and muffling everything within view.

"That was Warren." Layla repeated breathlessly.

"Yeah." Said Magenta, her mouth etched in a frown. "So why was Will's phone with Warren, and – whoever that other guy was."

"The other guy was his dad, r-right?" Zach said, glancing at Magenta. "I mean, that's who Warren's with now, right?"

"This doesn't bode well." Ethan said. "If Will's phone is with them, it wouldn't be a large leap to conclude that Will is with them as well."

"Maybe it's time to call Will's parents," Abby said. "If Battle has him . . ."

"I doubt we'll be able to reach them, but it's worth a try." Ethan said. "Layla? Do you mind?"

Layla began the call, and they all waited. The Commander's phone went unanswered. She called Jetstream.

"Didn't they say they were already on their way to find Battle though?" Zach asked.

"Yes, but they thought Battle was in Australia, remember?" Ethan said. "Battle can't be in Australia and with Will - or his phone. Will's phone may be good, but I highly doubt it's good enough to put through a call from the other side of the world, and an unintentional one at that. They must have received some misinformation."

"Then what do we do?" Magenta asked as Layla put her phone away, shaking her head. "If every super with a chance of defeating Battle has left for Australia, who are we supposed to tell?"

"I guess that means it's in our hands now." Layla said. "We need to go find them."

"But we still don't know where they are." Zach said. "And we ran out of the glowing spots."

"But now we have that phone call." Ethan said.

"But they didn't say where they were on the phone . . ."

"But we can trace it." Ethan said firmly. "Layla, again, if you don't mind." Layla silently handed Ethan her phone. "Thanks. This shouldn't take long."

He was true to his word. Hardly a minute later, he raised his head, saying "Got it. They're just outside of town."

"Guys," Magenta said slowly. "You do realize that we're going to be walking right to Barren Battle, possibly the most notorious super-villain on the planet?"

"Yes." Layla said steely. "But we don't have a choice. Will's there."

"I don't have a problem with it," Magenta said. "Just checking. Let's go."


	20. Chapter 20

"Hey Warren." Will said shakily. "Long time no see." Warren didn't reply. Will wondered if he knew that it was Will who had reported his change of side, that it was Will who had petitioned for hunting him down straight away. He gulped.

"Now Warren, manners." Chided Battle. "And wonderful to see you again too Will. It's been a long time."

Will turned to look at him. Now it was his turn to not reply. Battle looked different from what he had imagined – although he wasn't sure exactly what that had been; merely a person simply exuding evil. The man in front of him had long, straggly hair, was imposingly tall, and had a nasty looking scar on his right arm. A pair of glasses was dangled precariously on his nose.

"It took quite a bit of work to get you, but I'm glad it paid off." Battle continued.

"But," Warren said. "The Commander and Jetstream are your archenemies, not Will. And they're off in Australia." Damn, Will had forgotten about that. There went another hope of rescue. "Shouldn't you be off fighting them, instead of babysitting their kid?"

"I am fighting them. Trust me Warren," Battle said. "I speak from experience. This will hurt them more than anything."

Battle adjusted the screen, glancing back over his shoulder at Will and Warren. "Your parents are going to see you die on this screen Will." he informed him bluntly. "You're going to be killed, and they will be forced to watch, thousands of miles away, helpless to stop it." he stared pensively at the static. "Then they'll know what it's like to lose their son forever. Justice at last."

Something choked in Will's throat. Die. Him. Today. Right now. It didn't seem real, as unreal as him without his powers. He couldn't die. Today was not a good day to die. He had a math test tomorrow. He couldn't die. He was still in high school. He couldn't die.

"But," Warren said again, jerking his head from Will and then back to Battle. "You're going to kill him?"

"That's what I do."

Warren was silent for a minute, as Battle, squinting at the monitor, tore off his glasses in disgust and continued to tinker with it.

Will's insides had turned to ice. Was this really how it was going to end? With him unable to so much as fight back? At least now he knew that he had made the right choice in not taking the purgo potestas – unfortunately, the choice had been taken away from him. It was like being back in freshman year, back before he had gotten his power, back when Warren hated his guts and had tried to kill him in the cafeteria, back when they were enemies and Will had been helpless.

Funny how history repeated itself.

Will felt like he ought to at least say something, make some kind of heroic speech about how Battle would still pay, how evildoers never prosper, but no words came to mind. Words had never been his strong suit. He was the guy who hit stuff. No powerful phrases came to mind, nothing that would stop Battle in his tracks, or even so much as distract him. All he could think was, he didn't want to die.

"No."

Will was confused at first, unsure if the word had come out of his own mouth, although he hadn't remembered opening it. No. It had been Warren. He was staring across the room at his dad, who had turned his head at the word.

"Pardon?" he asked, straightening up.

"No." Warren repeated. "I can't let you do that."

"Do what, exactly?"

"Kill Will Stronghold."

"Well Warren, if you wanted to, all you had to do was ask."

"I _don't_ want to. Nobody's going to be killing him."

Battle just stared at Warren, as though he weren't entirely sure who he was looking at. He then re-gathered his composure, saying "Warren, you came to join me. You can't go around changing your allegiance whenever the mood strikes you."

"No. The only thing I was ever for was protecting the people I care about. Once that meant joining you, now it doesn't."

Will just sat there, staring open-mouthed at Warren – not that he had very many other options at the moment. Warren's back was to him, he was standing between Will and his dad. Will felt a sudden surge of guilt, which mixed uncomfortably with the feelings of hope, hope that he still had a chance, in his stomach. Warren, his best friend Warren, was still there. Layla had been right.

"I don't want to fight you, Warren." Battle said quietly.

"Neither do I." Warren answered evenly. "So maybe you'd better leave now."

Battle looked disinclined to agree, but before he had a chance to speak, the door swung open.

* * *

><p>It seemed as though time itself had been put on pause, as the door swung open. Will couldn't remember ever having been happier as he saw Layla, Zach, Magenta, Ethan, and Abby step into the room.<p>

"Oi," said Zach, his voice only wavering slightly. "Get away from him."

"Oh joy," Battle said, pushing himself up in an exaggerated motion. "The cavalry has arrived. Is daycare over already?"

"Let our friend go." Layla said firmly, her eyes blazing.

"Your friend?" Battle asked, adopting a tone of surprise. He gestured to Will, still strapped to the chair. "This one here? Your friend? Really? Well, now that's interesting. Will Stronghold, I was under the impression that he considered himself to be the 'big man on campus', too important to waste time on the little people, no need for 'friends'." He paced back and forth, his eyes flitting from one member of their rescue squad to another, searching for the weak link. According to his speech, it seemed like he thought that was Will. The realization felt like another weight dropped into the pit of his stomach. He was used to being the strong one, the one with two whole powers. Now suddenly he had been dropped back down to zero. "Why waste your time coming to rescue him? No cats up a tree today?"

"Everybody needs friends." Layla said, her eyes locked steadily on Battle. "Maybe Will can be a jerk sometimes, but he's still our friend. A villain may have turned their back on him, but we're not villains. We're heroes. And we'd come to save him, no matter what. Now let him go."

Battle's eyes narrowed, sharping into points targeted on Layla.

"And why," he asked deliberately, keeping his voice light. "Should I listen to you?"

In answer, Layla simply thrust out both of her hands. Vines snaked up out of the ground, cracking the cement, twisting serpentine-like around Battle's legs.

Battle glanced at them, unperturbed, and with a casual flick of his hand the plants sparked, flying out straight, then slumped to the ground, lifeless and burned to a crisp.

But the others had already jumped into action. An ice ball narrowly missed Battle's head, thrown by a fierce looking Abby, and Layla was quickly growing new vines to replace the old ones – this time with thorns. Magenta had transformed into a guinea pig, Ethan into goop, and both were racing towards Battle, Zach was glowing profusely and blaring what seemed to be some kind of war call.

Battle's eyes flickered briefly around the room, landing for less than a second on each of the teenagers. Then, with a loud crack, the entire room went dark.

Zach's glowing was an instant asset, but he couldn't light up the entire space, issuing about a twenty foot sphere around him, the only space visible in the sudden blackness.

It seemed like complete chaos, from what little Will could see. There were several more crashes, someone screamed, and the sound of footsteps, his friends calling out to one another, trying to locate Battle.

They were unsuccessful. After several minutes, the lights flickered back on. Plants and shards of ice littered the floor. Magenta was cautiously standing up. A few pieces of furniture seemed to be broken. And Battle was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

><p>"He's gone." Zach said, unnecessarily.<p>

"He must have cut out the lights, then escaped." Layla said in a monotone.

They all looked around, quiet, as if half-expecting Battle to pop out from around a corner. But he truly seemed to have simply left. Zach came to the conclusion first.

"Guys – he's gone! He left! We chased him off!" He let out a whoop of exhilaration, "We beat Barren Battle!", lifted Magenta into the air, swung her around, and kissed her.

It lasted only a second, then he quickly sprang away from her, sliding backwards, apparently as shocked as the rest of them at his actions.

But Magenta was smiling. Zach didn't seem to know what to make of it. "What are you doing over there?" she asked him. Zach's eyes flickered to the sides, as if wondering if she were talking to someone else, then hesitantly edged forward, gaining confidence with their proximity until they were next to one another again.

"We were lucky." Warren said softly, as he and Layla walked over to Will. Layla nodded her agreement.

"It's probably the best that could have happened, for him to have just left."

"Hey man – thanks." Will said, as Warren, untying him, helped him out of the chair. Warren gave a nod, and Will stood there, rubbing his wrists. He knew that Warren deserved far more than a 'thanks', he had just saved his life, going against his father to protect Will, but Will's mind seemed to have gone blank of all words.

"You're really the one who saved him Warren." Layla said. "I think you're the reason Battle left instead of fighting us."

"Maybe." Warren grunted.

"You were never really a villain."

Warren shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I guess I was never really cut out for it." Layla gave a beaming smile.

Will gathered up his courage, straightening up. "I'm sorry you guys. I didn't – I didn't realize, I guess I was just trying so hard to be the hero, that I didn't spend too much time thinking about who the villain was. And, it turns out I got it all wrong. Layla, you were right all along."

Layla smiled softly, slowly reaching a hand out towards Will, but then Magenta's voice rang out from across the room. "Will, Warren, if you guys are done deciding that you're both idiots, who should just let their girlfriends decide everything for them, then we need to figure out what to do next."


	21. Chapter 21

"So Warren," Zach said, as they all merged back into a group in the center of the room. "Does this mean you've come back from the dark side officially now?"

Warren appeared un-amused by his choice of wording, but nodded.

"Of course he is!" Layla said for him. "He saved Will, you guys all heard."

Will put in his support too. "Yeah. I might not have made it if it weren't for Warren."

"That's great and all," Magenta said. "But, Warren, why did you join your dad in the first place?"

Warren merely shrugged. "Seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Guess I was wrong."

"No kidding." Zach muttered, quickly zipping his lips as Warren glared at him.

"Not trying to be picky, but there's not going to be any more flip-flopping of sides, is there?" Magenta asked, giving Warren a harsh look.

Warren shook his head firmly. "No. It was my dad who sought me out in the beginning. I decided I ought to at least give it a shot. But it didn't work out, and I'm not going to try it again."

He looked around, as if almost expecting someone to challenge him, but there were merely a couple of nods, and silence.

"Well then." Warren stated. "We've got some bad news."

"That Barren Battle had captured Will, and we just barely managed to escape him?" Magenta asked.

Warren looked like he had a choice response, but Ethan beat him to it. "No. Will took the purgo potestas, didn't he?" Ethan shook his head. "We were too late."

"You knew?" Will asked, his head jerking towards Ethan in surprise.

"Well, guessed." Ethan explained. "It was Zach who figured it out. We were coming to stop you, to tell you not to do it. I'm sorry we came too late."

"Yeah Will." Layla said. "We should have been there for you."

"No, guys, it's okay." Will said, smiling a little despite himself. "You're – well, you're sort of right, but you're not. I was thinking of taking the purgo potestas, but then, I decided not to."

"Really?" Zach asked incredulously. "Good for you man!"

"Will came to the right decision on his own." Magenta said sarcastically. "Imagine that."

"But there's still the bad news." Warren interrupted. "Will still doesn't have his powers."

"What? How?"

"Well, I still took the purgo potestas – when I didn't know it. Rena gave it to me."

"Rena?"

"Yeah." Will said with a pang. He hadn't had much of an opportunity to process Rena's betrayal, but it stung. He had trusted her. He had thought she understood him. But she had been playing him all along. Was that all that ever happened to him, people duping him, taking advantage of him?

"Turns out she was working for Battle all along, trying to get me to get rid of my powers. When she figured out that wasn't going to work, she slipped it into my drink."

The rest of them stood silent, staring at him, the horror evident in their eyes. He had been stripped of his powers, possibly the worst thing they, or he, could imagine. What on earth would his parents say . . .

"It'll be okay Will." Ethan said bracingly. "We can reverse it."

"We can?" Will asked, raising his head. "Really?" He had done some research, naturally, in the past weeks, but that had all been in the effects of taking it. He had simply assumed that it was permanent.

"Well, I hope so. How long ago did you take it?"

"I'm not sure – an hour or two?"

"Alright, see? It hasn't been in your system very long, and you can't have had very much, especially if it was diluted in a drink. Was it a coke?"

"Yeah." Will said, staring at Ethan. "How'd you know?"

"There was a bottle on the floor of the warehouse. It seemed a bit out of place. It was mostly full though – how much of it did you drink?"

"Definitely no more than half of it." Will said, beginning to be reassured.

"Do you think you'll be able to fix – well, get him his powers back, Ethan?" Layla asked, a bit anxiously.

"I think so." Ethan said. "It should work on the same basic principle as reversing other naturally unstable elements, and I've done that before in chemistry club. Does Battle have a lab or something around here?"

"Not really, but he has a cabinet with some chemicals and stuff in it." Warren said. "Here, I'll show you."

As Warren and Ethan walked across the room, the door opened yet again. All heads turned towards it. At first, it seemed as though no one was there, and Will was reminded with an awful pang of Sam – who had been able to turn invisible.

Then he caught a sight of a reed white and blue ball, tumbling across the floor. Wait – that couldn't be his dad, could it –

"Hi – ya!" came a high voice, as a figure popped to his feet, arms extended in a ridiculous offensive stance. "All American Boy, present for action!"

"Mr. Boy!" Layla cried out. "You came!"

Mr. Boy glanced around the room, slowly realizing that there was no villain to fight.

"Layla." He said instead, tugging his small mask off. "Good to see you, safe and sound. It appears that there is no threat to compromise here at the moment. But one can never be too careful!"

"Barren Battle escaped, Mr. Boy." Ethan explained.

"Yeah! We scared him off!" shouted Zach excitedly, still attached to Magenta's side.

"We're so glad you could come, Mr. Boy." Layla said earnestly.

"Well, I may only be a high school teacher now, but you know what they say. Once a hero, always a hero."

No one felt the urge to remind Mr. Boy that he had always been a sidekick.

"So I suppose that the next step would be to secure the perimeter until the authorities – that is to say, the other heroes – they're in Australia at the moment, you see – but I have notified them, and have been assured that they will be arriving presently – get here." Mr. Boy said, looking around with his hands on his hips, and nodded a few times. "Well, it seems that everything is in order here."

"Actually, Mr. Boy." Ethan said, clutching several containers filled with different colored liquids to his chest. "We have another problem."

"Problem?" Mr. Boy's voice came out as a squeak, and his eye twitched. He cleared his throat. "Problem? Where?"

"It's me, sir." Will spoke up. Mr. Boy turned to look at him, his bright blue eyes intent. The costume really did make them pop. Will gulped. "I – I've lost my powers."

"Lost – lost your powers? What do you mean?"

"He was slipped some purgo potestas." Ethan explained.

Mr. Boy's expression turned grave. "Maybe you and I should have a talk Will."

* * *

><p>Will sat next to Mr. Boy, wondering what he was in for. He didn't even want to imagine what would happen if his parents came back and he had lost his powers. He stared across the room, watching the others, Ethan excepting, working on disarming the booby traps placed around the building, which had been Mr. Boy's suggestion, and had turned out to be quite a good one. Barren Battle had apparently placed quite a few around his hideout. Will was wondering how the others had managed to avoid them all.<p>

"Will." Mr. Boy said seriously. "You're very lucky. Not only did you avoid death at Barren Battle's hands, when you were powerless, that alone is a great feat, but Barren Battle also apparently only drugged you with a very small dose of purgo potestas."

It hadn't actually been Battle though, Will remembered, but Rena. On Battle's orders, of course. He didn't correct Mr. Boy.

"You also have Ethan here, who has a hope of fixing it. But ingesting purgo potestas is very serious business. Now, if Ethan manages to cure it, I won't tell anyone – lord knows I wouldn't want to cause Josie – or you - or the Commander, of course – any more trouble. But what's even more serious is how Battle was able to get it to you. Now Will, I know you spent only a few days in my class, so you have an excuse, but one of the first things I teach my freshman hero support – well, used to – was never, ever, to accept a drink from a known super-villain. Now, I know it might be tempting, if it's a hot day, and –"

Will couldn't take it any longer. "No, Mr. Boy, I didn't get it from Battle – well, not directly. I didn't go looking for him or anything."

"I'm sorry Will, I thought you said Battle gave it to you."

"Well, he did, through someone else."

"Am I allowed to ask who?"

"It – it was a girl. Just a normal girl, who he got to work for him. Rena."

Mr. Boy looked at him quizzically. "Just a normal girl?" he inquired.

Will felt himself sweating profusely. Was it possible that people ever developed new powers after taking purgo potestas? Such as super sweat? Because that was sure like what Will felt he had now. Mr. Boy had never been the most observant of people – was he really that obvious?

"She was completely normal." Will said, but couldn't help adding in. "I thought she was my friend."

"Ah." Mr. Boy said, nodding as if this explained everything. "Love can make you do strange things, Will."

"What? I never said –"

"I know, but there are all types of love. Love for your friends is just as important. Maybe even more so. But at some point, Will, you have to decide where people stand with you. You have to make a choice – which people you would sacrifice your lives for. And in those cases, it sometimes helps to know which ones would also sacrifice their lives for you."

Mr. Boy didn't say anything else, but Will felt his eyes drawn irresistibly to the other side of the room, where the others were standing. His friends. The ones who had charged straight into Barren Battle's lair because they were worried about him.

Will sighed. Mr. Boy may not have been the best super as far as actual crime-fighting was involved. Will wasn't even sure what his power was. But Mr. Boy had stood by his dad through thick and through thin when he had been his sidekick, and that was something Will could definitely learn from.

"Is that why you weren't worried about Warren being with us?" Will asked, feeling that he was finally beginning to understand. "Because you knew he was out friend?"  
>"What?" Mr. Boy asked. "Why would I be worried?"<p>

"Uh, just because Warren's been with Battle, and stuff."

"He has?" Mr. Boy asked, aghast. "No!"

"You know what? Never mind." Will said. "I was mistaken anyway."


	22. Chapter 22

"Okay Will." Ethan said, balancing the bottle of greenish-brown sludge in the palm of his hand. "I think I've got it."

Will took it in his own hand, the glass an icy cool against his fingers.

"Are –" Layla started uncertainly, staring dubiously at the mixture. "Are you sure that's – safe, Ethan?"

"Safe?" Ethan repeated.

"Yes." Layla said, twisting her fingers together. "It's just . . . are you sure you knew what all those chemicals were? Because it just doesn't look entirely . . . I don't know."

Ethan nodded. "I know, the chemicals were Battle's, and I'm not a chemist. But, I'm at least eighty percent sure that it will turn Will back to normal." He turned, speaking directly to Will now. "If you don't want to drink it, I understand. We can wait until the reinforcements get here if you want, and they'll definitely be able to find something to fix you back up. It's your decision."

There was silence, as Ethan looked openly at Will, and Will looked at the bottle. It didn't exactly look appetizing.

"But Will," Warren said. "If you wait – then we're going to have to tell them about Rena."

That was a good point. If Will was normal, there would be no need to mention Rena's name at all. Will looked back at Ethan.

"You really think this will work?"

Ethan nodded.

If it had Ethan's seal of approval on it, then it was okay by him. Will gulped it down.

The liquid sizzled down Will's throat, fizzing down to his stomach, and then spreading out to the rest of his body. It felt like an electric charge going through him, he felt lighter, as though all limitations, gravity included, were being purged from his body. It felt like power.

Will looked down at himself, almost expecting to be able to see a visible change. He looked the same as ever. He looked back up at the others, grinning.

"Dude – did it work?" Zach asked.

"I dunno." Will said in reply, bouncing up and down on his feet lightly. "Guess I'll try it out." He jumped up, eyes closed – and floated a few feet in the air.

"YES!" He shouted, pumping his fist and zooming upwards. "My powers are back!"

"Yeah!" Zach screamed. Layla let out a sigh of relief, covering her face with her hands.

"Ethan, you're a genius!" Will cried, swooping back down and lifting Ethan odd his feet.

Ethan let out a cry, then started laughing, attempting to nervously straighten his glasses as Will flew once around the room with him before setting him back down, t which point Mr. Boy patted him on the shoulder.

"Fine work Ethan, fine work. Always knew you were going to be a prodigy."

* * *

><p>Principal Powers was the first to arrive on the scene, with Coach Boomer close behind. They had all been sufficiently subdued by this point. Having affirmed that his power were indeed back in full, Will's feet were firmly on the ground.<p>

"Mr. Boy." Powers said, walking briskly in. "Will Stronghold. Warren Peace. Layla Williams. Warren Peace." She frowned at this name, looking him over critically. Then her gaze travelled over the rest of the group, and she seemed to give up on listing names. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it's this group again.

"Mr. Boy, what, exactly, has happened here?"

"I – it was Barren Battle, ma'am." Mr. Boy answered, his head bowed.

"Precisely. And where is Battle now?"

"He – he left."

"Escaped?"

"Well, yes."

"Yet none of you were injured?"

"No."

Powers frowned again. "That is . . . quite fortunate. Also quite unusual. How did that come about?"

"May – maybe you'd like to see the security tapes, Principal Powers?" Mr. Boy asked hesitantly.

"Yes." Powers said, nodding. Mr. Boy started to walk away towards the big screen, but Powers stopped, looking at Warren.

"And what is Mr. Peace doing?"

"I came back to the good guys." Warren answered.

"Oh have you? What changed your mind?" Powers asked, in an even tone.

Warren shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm not hanging around with my dad anymore. And I'd like to come back."

Powers merely looked at him. "We'll be talking later." She said, and then headed off after Mr. Boy.

Coach Boomer was the next to follow. Will was a bit disappointed, he had been hoping for his parents.

He was slumped between Warren and Ethan, sitting against the wall, as Coach Boomer walked up, looking intimidatingly down the line of them.

"WELL!" he shouted in a sonic boom, then coughed. "Sorry about that, nick in my throat.

"Well, I've just finished watching the security tapes. Principal Powers is headed back to the national headquarters with Mr. Boy to report, and get to stay here and watch you kids until the reinforcements get here." Boomer crossed his arms in front of him. "I must say, you kids are very lucky to be alive. Few heroes engage in battle with Barren Battle and live to tell the tale. Just goes to show, some names, you have to take seriously.

"Guinea pig!" he barked, starting at the end of the line. "You need to quite squealing so much. I wouldn't have even known you were there on the video tapes if weren't for that infernal squeaking – you may have been able to sneak up on him." Magenta's face remained stoic, but there was a twinge of pride in her eyes.

"Glowboy!" Zach flinched instinctively. "Nicely done." Zach's mouth dropped open, and he hesitantly looked up. "You're the only reason your team was able to function at all. But you made yourself a prime target in the process. Ya gotta make sure ya know when's the time to sacrifice yourself."

"Wasn't then one of those times?" Zach asked hesitantly.

"I can't tell you that. You're the only one who can know, boy." Boomer barked, moving on to the next person.

"Freeze Girl! You need to work on your pitching arm, the ice ball was less than half a foot from Battle's head.

"Hot head!" Boomer paused for a minute on this one, carefully appraising Warren. "It's about time you came back to the good guys. Try and chose your loyalties a little quicker next time, will ya?

"Chief!" Boomer looked almost sympathetic for a second, but then Will was sure he had just been imagining it. He wondered if Boomer was going to call him out, ask why he hadn't been helping, figure out that he hadn't had his powers. "Not so hot this time around, eh Stronghold? Remember powers aren't the only thing a team needs – they also need a bit of leadership." Before Will had had a chance to process this, Boomer had moved on.

"Popsicle! A little more pop next time – not sure what your plan was, lying there like a puddle of sick."

And, finally, "Flower child!" Boomer strode to stand in front of Layla. He stood there for a second, rocking back on his heels. "Good work."

Layla's head jerked up, an expression of surprise across her face, but Boomer was backing away as a group of heroes strode into the room – at the forefront, The Commander and Jetstream.

"Where is he?" demanded the Commander. "Where is Battle?"

"He's not here, Commander." Groaned a man in bright red spandex. "We've been over this."

"Oh, Will honey, there you are!" Jetstream cried, giving a sigh of relief as she rushed over to embrace Will. "And Layla too – oh, we're so glad you're alright!"

Will didn't want to admit to himself how glad he was to see his parents, safe and sound, so he just hugged his mother tightly.

"Well, now we know one thing for sure." Will's dad said approvingly, patting him on the back. "Battle won't dare to show his face now! Not with the Stronghold Three around!"

Will couldn't help but smile, as affection for his father was suddenly overwhelming, realizing just how close he had come to ending that dream forever.


	23. Chapter 23

Warren had been interviewed at least twenty times by this point, all by different important superheroes, trying to determine if he was about to go super-psycho-villain on them, or if he was just waiting to go tattling back to his daddy. He couldn't say he blamed them, it was perfectly understandable. But it was becoming a bit annoying.

And yet, now he was willing heading over to yet another. Abby was standing, arms crossed, in the middle of the room. Everyone was moving around her – no one was bothering to stop and interrogate her, not the perfect Ice Queen, poised to graduate and join the ranks of heroes in a few short months. But no one seemed to really care that she had just helped to defeat Barren Battle either. Why did it seem that all of their important conversations happened in the aftermath of near catastrophes?

He finally reached, and stood in front of her, silent. It took her a few moments, but finally, she looked at him.

"Warren." She said coolly.

"Abby." He replied, cautiously, trying to remain aloof, but it was incredibly difficult, desperately wondering where he stood with her.

She just looked at him for a minute, then sighed, dropping her icy guard, if only briefly. "Look," she said, "We can just go back to normal, but if you want to get back together, you've got some explaining to do."

"I'm sorry." He said instantly, first thing coming to mind, first thing she needed to know. "So sorry."

She just kept staring at him, apparently expecting something a bit more substantial.

"I know what I did was – bad." That didn't seem to sum it up, but his mind was blanking on the appropriate words. "But I never meant to hurt anyone."

Abby made a noise from the back of her throat that Warren took to indicate that she was restraining herself from making an undoubtedly harsh comment on that last statement.

"And I never would have hurt anyone." Warren said firmly. "I'm not a villain. If it had come to it, I wouldn't have done it."

"What about us?" Abby asked.

"That's why I changed sides." Warren said. "As soon as you guys came. I couldn't fight against you."

"Yes," Abby said. "But you hurt us, Warren. Leaving, becoming a villain, no explanation, hardly even a goodbye. That hurt." Warren was silent for a minute, not having bargained on that argument. "What about your mom? What must have this done to her?"

Normally, that argument would have hit home, but Warren could take some small comfort in the fact that his mother, at least, knew the whole story, that she would understand . . .

"I was more concerned with the other kind of hurting." Warren decided on. "I promise, I will never hurt any of you. I'm through with being a villain. I'm here, and I'm here to stay."

Everything he was saying was the truth, all the truth. He wished that would mean that she believed him instantly, automatically, but he knew better. Life was never that simple, especially not for him. And he really couldn't fault her for being wary. He'd have been surprised if she hadn't been.

Abby exhaled, crossing her arms. "But how am I supposed to trust you now? Before, I wouldn't have questioned you, but you've already left once. What's going to stop you from doing it again?"

"You." The word floated up out of his mouth before he'd even really thought about it. "Everything. It was a mistake, Abby, and I won't make it again. I most definitely know better now."

Abby looked away. His arguments apparently weren't winning her over. "You had all of that before Warren; nothing's changed. What's different now?"

Warren looked at his feet for several minutes. Because, truth be told, he really didn't deserve to be forgiven. He had almost become as bad as his father. He didn't think he would have been able to forgive that in someone else – say, Will. They would have been branded as evil forever. What made him so special?

"You're just going to have to go on trust for this one, Abby." He said at last, looking back down at her. "I know that's not easy for you, but it's the only answer I've got." She was a better person than him, after all – but he didn't want to allow himself the hope.

Abby was quiet for several minutes, what seemed like an eternity to Warren. "Alright." She said finally, looking at him straight on. "If you say you're through with the evil thing, I believe you. But," The ice crept back into her stare. "I'm going to warn you now, this is the only second chance I'm giving you. If you switch sides again, you should know that we're going to be over. Not just us, doing whatever we're doing, over either – I won't want anything to do with you."

"I'm through changing sides." Warren assured her, trying to treat her ultimatum with the same seriousness she was placing on it.

"Okay then." Abby said, breaking eye contact. "Then . . . I guess we're good."

Warren's shoulders finally seemed to relax a bit. "Cool." He said, finally daring to reach out and touch her, taking her hand. "Thank you."

Abby just shifted her head from side to side. Then, she turned back to look at him. "I have to ask," she said. "When you left, it was just after we had applied to be partners together. Was that part of the reason? Were you trying to get away from the . . . seriousness, of us?"

Once again, Warren found himself at a loss for words. That had never even crossed his mind, and he was astounded that she had reached it as a possible motive. That had been the last thing in the world he had been running from.

"Because if it was," Abby continued, as Warren was silent. "I'll understand if you want to try to retract our request to be partners –"

"No!" Warren finally found his voice. "No. That wasn't it at all." He closed his eyes briefly. He supposed he had no choice. He'd have to tell her now.

"I think I have a few more confessions to make."

* * *

><p>Will was dreading the next few minutes. He knew what was coming up. Time for him to give a speech. On all about thanking them for saving his life, about how he was sorry for having let them down. Which was all true, he was very grateful to them, and was incredibly ashamed that he hadn't been able to save himself. But unfortunately, he was also truly horrified at the prospect of having to express those emotions, aloud.<p>

Warren was the one he really needed to apologize to though, and he was standing across the room with Abby. It looked like they were having a pretty intense conversation, probably better not to disturb them . . .

Or was he just looking for an easy out? Really, Warren was probably the one he least needed to talk to – Warren had just taken everything Will had done in stride, he seemed to not have a problem with him at all.

Will was so lost in thought, that he didn't even notice Ethan until he was standing right in front of him.

"Oh, hey Ethan." Will said, quickly smiling.

"Hey Will." Ethan replied. "I – uh- do you have a minute?"

Will looked around. "Uh, yeah, sure." He said shrugging. "You want to talk?"

"Kind of." Ethan said. "I just – I just wanted to say I was sorry, because, you were right."

Will was sure he had misheard, staring at Ethan with an expression that was undoubtedly reminiscent of a dumb dog. "I – what?"

"You were right about Warren and Battle. I'm sorry I didn't believe you before. I was upset with you for not duly considering my physical strength, and then I turned around and did the same thing to you with your intelligence."

Will wasn't feeling nearly so confident in his intelligence; to the contrary, his head was spinning. "But – I was kind of wrong. Warren never really was a bad guy."

"Well of course not." Ethan said rationally. "But you were right about you, and us, being in actual danger from them. We all should have taken you more seriously."

Will suddenly became aware of the fact that he was smiling. "I'm sorry too. I – what you said earlier, I didn't mean – well, I should have – "

Ethan shook his head. "It's okay Will. I get it."

And from Ethan's smile, Will felt that he really did get it. It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his chest, one he hadn't even realized had been there until it had just left.

"So – we're cool now?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we're cool."

* * *

><p>"Well, you know, you could have just asked me to see a movie or something," Magenta said, smiling. Zach hunched his shoulders. "But this was good too."<p>

Zach's face broke into a wide smile. "Really?"

Magenta laughed. "Yeah, really. You aren't a bad kisser."

"Well, uh, neither are you."

"You want to try it again sometime?" Magenta asked slyly.

"Now?" Zach asked, panic swirling with eagerness in his eyes.

"I'd rather not in front of all our teachers, if you don't mind." Magenta said, looking meaningfully around the room. "But maybe . . . this Friday?"

"Prom?" Zach said instead.

Magenta was taken aback. "Uh – Prom?"

"Well, I mean, only if you want to," Zach quickly backtracked.

Magenta frowned. "Well, what do you want? Do you want to go to prom with me?"

"Yes!" Zach replied instantly. "Yes. I wouldn't want to go with anyone else. But I wouldn't want to go at all if you didn't really want to."

Magenta smiled. "I'm not really a prom type of girl," she started. "But for you – It could be fun."

"So . . ." Zach said, a puzzled expression on his face. "You'll go?"

"I'll see you there, light bulb." Magenta said, laughing.

* * *

><p>"Battle, he contacted me a lot earlier in the year, wanting to meet with me." Warren started explaining. "At first, I just ignored him. But he kept it up. And then, he visited my house. He told my mom that, that if I didn't find him, then he would find you."<p>

Abby simply stared at him, her mouth dropped open.

"So, that's when I went and found him out. Because I didn't want him to hurt anyone I cared about – especially not you."

"You – you mean," Abby said hesitantly, gazing at him. "You did it for me?"

"Yeah, kind of." Warren said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking over her head at the other side of the room.

Suddenly, her arms went around him. "Thank you." She said into his chest.

"Hey, it's no big deal." Warren said, starting to smile. "I mean, I dunno if he would have actually gone through with it. I wasn't going to take that chance, but it could have been an empty threat. But either way, Battle knows what makes people tick. I guess that includes me."

"So is that why you were acting all weird when you came to my house that day?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place, idiot?" She asked, pulling away and hitting him, though she was still smiling.

Warren shrugged. "I don't' know – I guess, I didn't want you to be afraid of being around me. I didn't want you to think that I thought you couldn't take care of yourself. I didn't want you to think better of me than I actually was."

Abby shook her head. "Next time, just stick with the truth, okay?"

"There's another thing too," Warren said slowly, deciding that as long as he was being honest, he might as well go all in. "I think . . . maybe . . . part of me, was looking for an excuse. Part of me really did want to go and meet my dad, and was ready to take advantage of the opportunity."

Abby looked at him, nodding slowly. "I mean, he is your dad Warren. I think it's only natural to want to see him."

"But – he's a monster. A supervillain." Warren argued, not sure exactly which side he was on.

"That doesn't change the fact that he's your family. No one can blame you for just wanting to see him, Warren."

Warren rolled his eyes. "But they could blame me for joining up with him."

"You didn't actually do anything villainous." Abby said, taking her turn to roll her eyes. Then, more seriously, she said "It's not a bad thing to want to know your dad."

Warren nodded. "But you know, that advice would be a lot easier to swallow if my dad was just an accountant or something."

Abby nearly laughed. "Life's never that simple. Especially not for supers. But anyway, where would the fun in that be?"

"I could do with a little less fun in my life." Warren grumbled.

Abby rolled her eyes. "You're lucky you're cute. Otherwise no one would put up with you – I certainly wouldn't."

"I could say the same about you."

"Hey." She said, drawing her head back. "Do you want that second chance or not?"

"Sorry." He said quickly, pulling her back towards him.


	24. Chapter 24

Will knew that he shouldn't be here. He knew that it was stupid. He knew that everyone was going to think he was even more of an idiot than he already did. He was regretting it even as he walked up the sidewalk, but he didn't stop.

He had a perfectly sound excuse all made up. His parents were the relators selling the house. He had every reason to be there. He was taking an interest in the family business – real estate. Of course, then there was the small matter that none of that was true.

He rang the doorbell. There was a clatter of footsteps from behind the door, a click, and it swung open.

"Hel – oh." Rena said, her look of politeness suddenly dropped.

"Hi." Will said, a bit nervously.

"Will." Rena said, staring at him, eyes wide. "I – I didn't expect to see you."

"Uh, yeah." Will said, shuffling his feet. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Oh. Okay." Rena said, nodding as though in a trance. "Um, do you want to come in?"

She ushered him inside to the living room. This hadn't exactly been what Will was expecting. This wasn't the happy, bright Rena, the Rena with a smile plastered on 24/7, the Rena he had known all that time, and – he might as well admit it – the Rena he had been hoping to see today. But, it wasn't the evil, or at least quite mean, Rena that he had seen that day at the warehouse either, the one who had been all mocking sarcasm, mercilessly turning him over to a villain.

This Rena was entirely new. Actually, Will hadn't even considered the possibility that there might be another Rena.

"So, um, Will." Rena said, gingerly sitting on the edge of a chair. "What did you want to talk about? I didn't actually think you'd want to see me at all anymore."

Will almost smiled, but he wasn't quite at the point of finding that incident entertaining yet.

As for her question, he actually found that he didn't have the words. Maybe he should have thought this out a little bit more . . . He supposed he hadn't really expected to get this far, to the actual conversation.

"I guess," he said, mulling carefully over each word. "I just felt like we needed to talk." Okay, he'd said that already. What else? "After everything. Closure. You know."

Rena nodded at the floor, biting her lip. "I think I owe you an apology." She said. "No, not think, know. I do owe you an apology." She looked up at him, her eyes wide and vulnerable. "I'm sorry Will. I really am. I know, you're in no position to believe me, and I'm in no position to even ask it of you, considering how much I've lied to you,"

Ouch. She had to remind him of that.

"But I hope you can somehow know that it's true. You're a good person, Will. You didn't deserve any of what happened to you – what I made happen to you. It's probably not any consolation, but I do regret it."

It was some, actually. Maybe even what he had come for. To not feel so pathetic for having been played, yet again.

"Then, why'd you do it?" Will asked. He wasn't trying to accuse her. He simply wanted to know.

"He paid me." She answered. "Quite a bit. And he got my dad a promotion, which moved us out here, and now my mom one, which is what's moving us now. It added up to a lot. I'll be able to go to college now. And my big sister can pay off some of her loans." She pushed her hair back, fidgeting in her seat. "I know it doesn't excuse what I did, not at all, but it certainly wasn't out of malice."

"That's . . . good to know." Will said. And it was.

"I –I'm glad you're okay." Rena said quietly. "I know it may be hard to believe, but I am."

"It's okay." Will said automatically, not really sure if he meant it or not.

"So, are you – you know," She looked at him nervously. "Back to normal?"

"Oh, yeah." Will said. "I got my powers back. It's all good."

Rena nodded and let out a shaky laugh, her shoulders relaxing for a fraction of an instant, but then tensing right back up again.

"And – your parents? Are they," Rena looked at him, apparently unable to finish her question.

"Well – uh – well, yeah." Will said, taken off-guard by this question. He hadn't expected her to realize this was an issue, or to care.

"I mean," he fumbled over his words. "They don't exactly know what happened. So – but, you know. It's all good with them too."

Rena nodded solemnly. Her hand twitched a bit, almost as though she were thinking about reaching out to him.

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind Will." She said softly. "They're your parents. It wouldn't matter to them." Will nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "Even if they act like it's important," Rena continued. "If it came down to it, it wouldn't make a difference."

And he suddenly knew why he had come. Rena had really understood him – maybe even more than Layla. She had put up with him, had always been interested in what he had to say, had been fun to spend time with, and she just plain got him. She had always been on his side. Yes, maybe that wasn't always a good thing – Will could admit that he wasn't always on the right side. But it sure had felt good. Reassuring. Like he was doing something right for a change.

He had wanted to know that at least part of that hadn't been an illusion, an act.

"Was it – was it all fake?" Will asked. "Our whole friendship?"

"Will," Rena started sadly, looking behind her.

"No, I know, but – was any of it real? At all?" He hadn't realized how desperately he needed to hear the answer until right now, here hanging on the edge of the question.

Rena bit her lip, her eyes wide and pleading. "You know why I became friends with you Will. Neither of us can change that. But . . . you were my only friend the whole time I was here. Even though it was all fake . . . it felt real sometimes."

The stress and anxiety seemed to fade out of the center of Will, and he started to smile a little.

"I should get going," Will said abruptly, standing up, realizing that he was sitting in the middle of a half-packed living room, and Rena may actually have things to do. "But, maybe . . . I could – call you?"

Rena's head turned towards him, her face creased. "I – Will, I'm sorry, but I'm moving now, and . . . I just don't think that's a good idea."

Will nodded. "Alright. You're right." She was. It would be better, for both of them, but especially him.

"I'm sorry." She said again.

"No," Will said shaking his head. "You probably want to start your life again, and I should too." He walked out the door, and turned one last time on her doorstop. "Goodbye Rena."

"Good bye Will."


	25. Chapter 25

"Kendra and Mia were partnered together, so of course they're both ecstatic." Abby was saying, sitting next to Warren on the ledge outside of school.

"Of course." Warren repeated.

"And so were Michael and Ellie, which should be okay, he's not too snobby about her having been a side-kick. Oh! And so were Gordon and Frank – they're really happy, obviously, and I mean, they get along great, but I don't see how they're going to save anyone."

"Uh huh."

"And then Tony and Olivia were also paired up. I don't know what they were thinking with that one. Olivia actually started crying when she found out."

"Abby, I'm sorry, but I don't care!" Warren burst at last. "I don't even know any of these people."

"Warren! Yes you do!"

"No I don't!"

"You've gone to school with them for the past four years, how could you not know them?"

"Uh, maybe because none of them would even talk to me until halfway through sophomore year?"

Abby gave him a look. Warren looked right back. "What's that for? You know it's the truth."

"And does that mean you don't have any interest in what any of them are doing?" She asked, her tone making it clear what she believed the answer to be. "These are the people we're going to be working with Warren – the supers of tomorrow."

"The only people I care about being paired together are you and me."

Abby turned to look at him, her mouth slightly open, then shook her head and looked away. "Fine." She said with a sigh, but smiling. "You win."

"No surprise there." Warren grinned.

Abby whipped back around, ready to argue, but before she had the chance, Warren caught sight of a figure headed towards them. "Layla!"

"Warren! Abby!" She cried out, hurrying over. "I just saw the news!" She said, smiling widely and engulfing them both in a hug. "You're going to be partners! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks Layla." Abby said, her voice muffled by the crushing embrace, as Warren carefully pried her off.

"I was so surprised!" She said, bouncing down on the seat beside them. "But I'm so glad too! I wasn't sure they were going to let you, Warren after, you know, everything."

"Honestly, I was pretty surprised too. I thought they might have even made me repeat senior year. But I'm not complaining."

"Well, I think it shows very good judgment on Principal Powers' part," Layla said. "Not discriminating against those with unconventional family backgrounds."

"Or maybe they just wanted to get rid of him." Abby said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, whatever the case may be," Warren said. "My plan is to just graduate before they realize they've made a mistake."

"It's no mistake Warren!" Layla said seriously. "You deserve to graduate. You've worked your way all the way through high school, and now you're going to be a real hero." She smiled at them, sunk in content nostalgia.

"Just think, soon you'll be spread across newspaper headlines – Hothead and Freeze Girl!" She spread her hands out in front of her, watching their reaction carefully.

Warren and Abby both shook their heads.

"Don't even try, Layla." Warren said. "You'll find out our new secret identities on graduation, just like everyone else."

Layla wilted a little. "Oh come on, please? Just your super names?"

He shook his head.

"But I'm your best friend!"

"A best friend who's just going to have to scrounge up some patience."

"Fine." Layla said, gathering up her bags. "But I think you're enjoying keeping it from me. Which is not very nice."

She bounced off again, leaving only the light scent of daffodils behind.

"You are enjoying it, aren't you?" Abby said after a beat.

"Yeah, just a bit." Warren answered.

"I don't see why she doesn't get a better best friend." Abby said, standing up. "Come on, we should get going too."

Warren obligingly stood up and followed as they started to walk back towards the school.

"Well, I guess you'd better ask me to prom now Warren."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "Wow, you must really be desperate. What, no one else asked you while I was out being a villain?"

"Turns out, having a villain for a boyfriend does quite a bit of damage to your reputation." Abby said breezily. "So the least you can do in return is take me to prom."

"I don't have a tux."

"Yes you do."

"It's my dad's. He might be wanting it back, now that he's out of prison and all."

"Lots of formal occasions coming up?"

"Never hurts to be prepared."

"I'm sure if you ask nicely he'll lend it to you for one night." She said sweetly.

"Well, I don't know. I kind of just ruined his evil plan."

Abby sighed. "Well, alright then. I suppose you aren't required to wear a tux."

"So you mean I don't have an excuse now?"

"You're my boyfriend now." She chided. "You have to do boyfriend things with me."

Warren pulled a tortured look. "Alright." He turned to look smolderingly down at her. "Abby." He said, slowly drawing the words out. "Will you go to prom with me?"

She looked back up at him, a soft smile on her face. Then she dropped the sappy expression and started walking again, pushing her hair back. "I'll consider it."

"What?" Warren exclaimed, walking after her. "All that and you don't even say yes!"

"You're getting cocky Warren. At least I didn't say no."

"Abby, if you're my girlfriend, then you're going to have to do girlfriend stuff with me . . ."

* * *

><p>There she was, finally. Will must have been lying in wait at her locker for ages. He wasn't sure if he'd smell anything other than honeysuckle ever again.<p>

"Layla!"

"Will!" She greeted him, looking surprised, but also smiling. "What's up?

"Nothing much." He answered automatically, then instantly wished he could have taken it back. "Well, actually, Layla, I was wondering," He looked at her tentatively, wishing she was looking back at him. "If you wanted to go to prom with me?"

Now she was looking at him. In fact, that was all she did for a minute. "Actually," she said "I'm already going with someone else. Larry asked me, while we weren't speaking, and I said yes."

"Oh." Will said, looking down and scuffing his shoe against the ground. "No, that's totally cool, I understand. I know we're just sort of trying to get back to normal now, and stuff."

"Yeah." Layla said nodding. "So, are you still going to go to prom?"

"Yeah," Will said shrugging. "It's not like I'll be the only one without a date. I'll go with Ethan and Zach, and Magenta."

Layla looked at him strangely. "Will . . ." she said, "Ethan has a date. His girlfriend, Sophia."

"What?" Will said, slightly bewildered.

"Yeah." Layla said, nodding, still giving Will that weird look. "And Zach and Magenta are going together."

"What?" Will asked again. "Zach and Magenta? Seriously?"

"Will, come on, everyone knew they liked each other."

"Oh." Will said, nodding. He hadn't. And Ethan had a girlfriend? Since when? Why hadn't he known any of this?

"Why don't you ask Rena?" Layla asked in a dangerous tone.

"Rena?" Will asked, forcing a laugh and trying to act baffled. "Why would I do that? She's practically a villain!"

Layla sighed. "You don't have to pretend Will, I know you went to see her. Your mom told me."

Will swore internally. Why did his parents have to talk to Layla?

"I don't see why you did it, Will." She said frankly, turning to face him.

"I just . . . need – want - wanted to see her. Again. One last time."

"Why? She sold you out to Barren Battle. She pretended to be your friend for money. She played you, and then betrayed you." Will winced. Layla had never been one to mince words, and she certainly wasn't going easy on him now. "Why would you possibly feel the need to see her again?"

"She wasn't actually a villain," Will protested, trying to explain, though somewhere deep in his subconscious he knew he was fighting a losing battle. "She didn't hate me. Maybe she didn't hang out with me because she actually liked me, but we still kind of became friends."

"Will, I'm sorry, I know it must hurt, but she told you herself, it was all just an act."

"It wasn't though! At least, not completely. And I just wanted to talk to her one last time, that's all."

Layla turned to her locker and started opening it. Will could always tell which one was hers; it was the one that smelled of fresh flowers. "Fine." She said tiredly, not looking at him. "What does it matter?" They lapsed into silence as she rifled through for her books, hastily shoving them into her bag.

"Layla, is it because of Rena that you don't want to go out with me again?" Will asked bluntly, feeling that he just had to know. It wasn't worth loosing Layla over some stupid misunderstanding, over some stupid girl. He had to make her understand - "Because nothing happened between us. At all. Ever."

Layla just sort of looked at him and pushed her locker door closed. "No Will." She said. "It's not because of Rena."

"Then why?" Will asked, genuinely puzzled. "Warren and Abby got back together just fine, and he even went over to the dark side, I on –"

Evidently that hadn't been the right tactic to pick. 'First of all," Layla said forcefully, "Warren and Abby have nothing to do with me and you." She sighed, running a hand hastily through her hair and then turning back to Will.

"Yes, at first it was because of Rena, and because you were obsessed with her, and because you weren't at all sympathetic about Warren, and because you were being a jerk!" Ouch. "But now . . . yes, I was upset, but I've gotten over all that. But now, I've realized . . . I just can't do this anymore. I don't want to do it anymore." She bit her lip and shook her head slightly.

She didn't look as though she were gearing up for an angry rant. She looked inexplicably sad, as though she were about to have to tell him his dog had died, when all she wanted to do was tell him he had gone to live at the butterfly farm. "Honestly Will, you do this all the time. With Gwen, with Rena . . . and it's not just them. You're willing to dump me for the first shiny new thing you see, a new girl, a new power, a new toy. Remember when you first learned to fly Will? We had just started dating, but I hardly ever saw you after school, because you were always flying off somewhere, somewhere I couldn't go. And remember over the summer, when you got some new video game? You were glued to the TV for weeks. I don't think you spared two words for me. Magenta thought I should dump you right then. But I didn't. I held out, because I was in love with you, Will Stronghold. But you only come back once you're done. I don't want to be your last stop Will. I was there for you, but you didn't really want me. Sure, you liked me well enough, but you're too flighty. Maybe the world can depend on you to save it, but your friends can't depend on you to be there. It's time to move on Will. We tried, and it didn't work out. It's time for me to give up on you."

"I –" Will started, but the words wouldn't come. Layla had always been constant. Dependable. And now he'd lost her, because of being the opposite. Maybe he hadn't been sure of her answer, but he hadn't been expecting this.

"I'm sorry Will." Layla said, taking over the conversation again. "I know you're a good person, and you'll always be my friend. But we just obviously aren't going to work."

Will couldn't have disagreed more. Throughout it all, Layla had been there, since the first grade. Weren't they supposed to end up together? It had all seemed so perfect.

But all she had said was true. He hadn't been the greatest boyfriend around. What was he saying, he'd hardly even been a decent one. Why hadn't Layla dumped him ages ago? Why would she take him back now?

Layla could do better. And she should. That was something Will could understand. It may even be something he wanted. He wanted the best for Layla. He wasn't sure if he loved her, but he was sure that she was an amazing person, one who deserved the best of whatever was out there. Even if that wasn't him.

"You're right." Will said quietly. "You do deserve better." Layla nodded, biting her lip shut, and watched as he walked away down the hallway.

* * *

><p>"S-sir?" A pale, rat-faced man asked hesitantly. "Why – why did you, if you don't mind me asking, why did you need those papers?"<p>

"Don't worry Connell, it's nothing too illegal, and it won't be traced back to you." Battle said, lounging back in his chair.

"Oh." He said, appearing slightly relieved. He glanced down at the folder in his hands apprehensively. "It just seemed a little strange – not very villain-y."

Battle gave an indulging smile. "Yes, I don't usually exert my influence in the realm of reputable supers." Although he maintained the smile, his eyes grew cold. "But mistake me not, I do still have connections, the least of which are you."

"Y-yes sir." Connell stuttered.

Battle sighed, swiveling around in his chair. "I needed to get my son back into Sky High." He informed him, giving in to the other man's curiosity. "He has decided not to join me. It was not a decision that I supported. But I want him to have any opportunity he desires. I don't want him to have lost everything he wants because of me." Battle stared down at his hands. "It's not what I want for him, but it's what he wants, and I made sure that my choices didn't stand in the way of him getting it. Besides," He said, swiveling around again. "I want him to be able to graduate high school, at least. I don't want him to be held back because of me."

"You're a good father, sir."

"You're a terrible liar, Connell. You may leave now."


	26. Chapter 26

Will stumbled into prom, pulling at his tie. It was so awkward walking in by himself . . .

The music was blaring, it was dark, and there were people everywhere. Will had never realized just how many people went to Sky High that he didn't even know. Had he walked into the wrong school's prom?

Finally, a familiar face. Will stumbled towards Ethan, mumbling "sorry" as he pushed a little too hard past a couple that had been too absorbed with one another's lips to notice they were standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey Will!" Ethan greeted him.

"Hey Ethan." Will said. "How's it going?"

"Good. Good." Ethan replied, bobbing his head up and down.

"So, uh, where is everybody?" Will asked, glancing around. Redheads usually stood out in a crowd. Just a basic fact.

"Well, uh, Zach's kind of lying low at the moment," Ethan said, rubbing the back of his neck. He lowered his voice. "Some senior thought it would be funny to lift him up and make him a disco ball. I mean, some other guys stopped him, but he's kind of embarrassed about it, so don't bring it up, okay?"

"Yeah, of course not." Will nodded emphatically, his brow drawn.

"So, Magenta's with him, I think they went to go get water." Ethan continued. "And Serena's fixing her makeup, and Warren and Abby are dancing. But I'm guessing you weren't really asking about them."

"Wha – what are you talking about, man?" Will asked, faking a laugh. He was actually half serious, wondering if he had missed part of the conversation – there had been a girl in green across the room, but Will had realized he didn't even know her.

"Will, it's alright. I know you wanted to come with Layla."

Will had a sudden coughing fit. "I mean, it's no big deal." He spluttered. "She already had a date. We broke up, anyway."

"I know man." Ethan said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Hey," he said, looking over Will's shoulder. "Here comes," Will whipped around, but saw a girl with long dark hair walking towards them. "Serena."

"Oh. Hey, Serena." Will said.

Serena smiled, walking up next to Ethan and entwining her hand with his. "Hi Will."

"Uh," Will said, looking around. "I think I'll just go, walk around, see who else is here . . ." He trailed off, slowly backing away from them.

"See you later Will!" Ethan said, and Will nodded, smiling, back, before turning to start to push his way around the crowded room.

No way he was entering the dance floor – nope. Instead he skirted his way around the edges, not really stopping to talk with anyone. The throngs of teenagers cleared for a moment, and Will caught a glimpse of the drinks table. He made a beeline for it, nabbing a water bottle. Finally, a place he could stand by himself without looking awkward. Will unscrewed the cap and took a long drink – then froze.

There she was. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Tall and graceful and gorgeous in a gown every color imaginable. Will knew he was staring. He tried to look away, but it was as if he had lost control of his body. He couldn't tear himself away.

But there was something terribly wrong with the picture. She was standing next to Larry. It was wrong. Layla didn't even like Larry. She never had. And Will had always hated Larry. Always. He couldn't remember exactly why, but that was unimportant, in face of this enormous and profound dislike of this scrawny nerd who had somehow weaseled his way next to her.

What was he doing? Will finally got his brain back in control and ripped himself away, turning around to face the table. He grabbed another water bottle, instantly draining it. He was happy for Layla. She was here with a date, who happened to be Larry. That was fine. That was good. He was glad she was having a good night. Without him.

Will was so fixated on these thoughts that he didn't notice that there were other people who might like a drink too.

"Hey Will. Could you pass me a water bottle?"

"Sure." Will said, abashed, grabbing one and turning around. And then almost dropped it when he saw Layla reaching out to take it.

"He – Hey Layla."

"Hey Will." She smiled at him, tucking some hair back behind her ear. "So, nice night, huh?"

"Yeah." Will said. "You – you look really great." Beautiful. Should he say beautiful? Would that make him sound like an idiot? Was he even allowed to call her beautiful now that he wasn't her boyfriend?

"Thanks," Layla said, smiling. She gestured stiffly towards him. "You clean up pretty well yourself."

"Uh, thanks." Will said, nodding. Layla nodded as well. They both just stood there, nodding at one another for a moment or so.

"It's kind of funny," Layla said at last, with a sound that could have been a laugh, if the music hadn't been so loud. "You know, when I pictured myself at prom, . . . I always thought it would be with you."

"Well, hey, I offered." Will said, trying to joke. They both laughed a bit, even though neither of them really felt like it. Will was already regretting that little comment.

"So, have you seen Warren yet?" Layla asked brightly, abandoning the subject altogether.

"Ah, no, not yet." Will replied, eagerly going along with her.

"Well, we ought to go find him," she suggested. "I mean, it's the only time we'll all be at prom together . . . can you believe they're graduating?"

"No, I can't." Will said.

That strain of conversation carried them all the way back over to their table, where Ethan and Serena were still standing.

"Serena!" Layla cried, rushing over to hug her. "You look gorgeous!"

"Thanks Layla!" Serena replied, beaming. "So do you! I love your hair, did you do it yourself?"

Will stood awkwardly by Ethan, simply watching the exchange, when he suddenly found himself engulfed from behind.

"Will! You came, man!" Will turned around, bewildered, to find himself face to face with a bright white tux.

"Yeah, Zach." He said, grinning. "Good to see you."

"Uh – yeah. Yeah." Zach said, backing up a step now that he saw Will's face. "Cool, cool, cool."

He wasn't sure what had brought on the change – he, for one, was happy to see Zach. But there were too many distractions to think about that now. The girls had found another person to shriek over – Magenta, who had been pulled along in Zach's wake, face flushed and – smiling?

Yes, Magenta was, in fact, grinning from ear to ear, clutching Zach's hand.

"Hey you guys, where have you been?" she asked. "Hiding out in the bathroom?"

"Not all of us are willing to brave the center of the mosh pit, Magenta."

"We need to get a picture, all of us together," Layla said, rooting through her purse. "Wait! Where's Warren? And Abby? We thought they'd be over here."

Will was slightly surprised when Magenta's sarcastic comment didn't come.

"I think they're dancing." Zach told her.

"Oh, so that's why you guys emerged from the dance floor. Couldn't figure out how to dance slow?" Serena gently jibed.

"There they are." Ethan said, pointing.

The group simply stared for a second or two, adjusting to the sight.

"Woah. Warren and Abby are kissing. I guess they actually are a couple."

"Yeah, that's true. I've never actually seen them . . . you know, they aren't big on the pda."

"Come on, they're a couple, of course they kiss!"

"Yeah, I know – just not in front of us. I just didn't think they did that kind of stuff."

"Oh, they've done more than just kiss." Magenta said with a knowing smirk.

It took a second to sink in, but then Will turned with a look of horror.

"Magenta!" Layla hissed.

"Thanks a lot, Magenta, now I have these awful images in my head."

"Well, you want to go get them Layla?" Magenta grinned.

"Um, no." Layla squeaked. "We can get a group photo later."

Magenta shook her head. "Honestly, you act like you'd never kissed anyone before."

If Will had been blushing before, his face was a bonafide furnace now. All he could think of was kissing Layla at Homecoming. And that just led to a whole mess of emotion.

Emotion was very unpleasant, Will had decided.


	27. Chapter 27

Sunbeams over-spilled from the windows, lighting across the group of them as they lounged across the room, grazing on several bowls of popcorn.

It had been surprisingly easy to get all of them in the same room; maybe partially due to the fact that no one had intended it. Will had invited Ethan over, who had brought Magenta with him, who had only come because Ethan was her best friend, and had naturally brought Zach with her. Zach had been with Layla at the time of the invitation, so that brought her along too, and she invited Warren, who was a package deal with Abby. And so here they all were.

"This seat taken?" Layla asked, smiling hesitantly at Will.

He glanced up, mouth half full, popcorn spilling onto his shirt. Will blinked once. "Yeah." He said suddenly, jumping up as his brain turned back on, and he lurched to the right to make room for Layla. The other end of the couch popped up in the air briefly as Will landed heavily on the other side, but luckily fell back into place without injury. Thank goodness – Will's mom had been getting more than a bit annoyed with all the furniture damage attributed to Will and his dad.

Zach was sprawled on the couch, long legs propped on the table, and Magenta was leaning against him. Both were smiling.

"I guess we should feel honored. You two skipping out on graduation parties to hang with us."

"Eh, we didn't really like those people anyway." Abby said, shrugging. "Besides, it's kind of hard to party when you've got these things on you for the first time." She gestured to her side, where a new cell phone lay. There had been enough lying around Will's house for him to instantly recognize it – the standard super phone. The phone you had to abandon your civilian life to answer.

"Yeah, and anyways." Warren was continuing. "Boomer is notorious for breaking up those post-graduation parties with a barrage of first-time super calls. Like to unclog his toilet."

Yet another image Will wished to permanently erase from his mind. Zach had turned as green as Layla's shirt.

"But anyways, we don't have to worry about that here." Abby said, in an attempt to steer the conversation away.

"And anyways, everyone knows the good parties start next week."

Abby turned to stare at Warren. "Like you would know? You weren't even invited to any of them."

"But you were."

"And that changes something?"

"You have to take me as your plus one."

"Oh really? Says who?"

"I'm your partner now. It's your obligation."

"That obligation's getting a little cocky, don't you think?"

"The obligation just graduated. Give him a moment."

Will couldn't help but smile. He was finding it incredibly weird, his best friend graduating, going on to become a hero. A real hero. An adult. Woah, was he getting old. But it made it easier when they still acted so much like kids. He could almost pretend like nothing had changed.

He guessed he was going to have to start worrying about this kind of stuff one day. Soon. After all, he only had one more year of high school left before he had to head out into the real world and start saving it. But for now at least, he was more than content to hang back, just enjoying the time he had to spend with the people who made the world worth saving.

* * *

><p>Good things come to those who wait. So they say, at least. Battle had done his waiting. Almost twenty years of it. And as he was still waiting for the windfall from his patience, he didn't see why others should have to suffer through the drudgery as well.<p>

Really, one would have thought with twenty years, prison décor would have improved maybe minutely, Battle thought idly, propelling himself further upwards. But maybe he was just being too hard on them; he had been rather partial to his own maximum security prison.

Another thing one would have assumed they'd have improved – the security. But alas, no. Childs play.

It hardly even took a thought to eliminate the security cameras, and then with a flick of his fingers decided to take out the lights too for good measure. And that lockdown really worked against them when suddenly all of their security codes were overridden. Ah, the irony – imprisoned by their own chains.

Battle took a second to appreciate the poetic justice, which did a great deal to assuage his disappointment over this not being a challenge at all. He'd always had a strong appreciation of the arts.

But, time to get back to business. After all, someone had to take action in this town. Might as well get straight to the point then.

Electrical wires crackled to life, as Battle swung his arms up, launching forward and burning a hole through the supposedly impenetrable wall. He then set the wires loose, cackling madly down a path through the darkened corridors. Battle was assuming that as nothing else had changed, the route to the cells hadn't either.

They didn't keep him waiting. A few minutes passed before the first figure emerged. Several others soon became clear, following not far behind.

Battle obligingly sent a few more wires to tear up a slab of cement to serve as a platform, the wires then hauling it up to the hole turned exit, where the escapees silently boarded it before it was brought up to Battle's level.

They were silent as they came face to face for the first time. Battle was not displeased with what he saw – of course only the better super villains would have been able to take advantage of his escapades to escape. There was his old classmate, now Royal Pain, and of course, who could forget King Kamau Mayo. This would turn out very well indeed.

"Now let's see." Battle said, bringing the first smile to the group, tapping the tips of his fingers together. "Who's in the mood for a little revenge?"

**Yes, there's going to be a sequel.**

**If you've made it this far, thank you so much - I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Okay, that's pretty unlikely. But I do hope that you liked it, and again, thank you glancing at what my head spews out. **


End file.
